


Ink

by Caketastrophe_cosplay



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Angst, Background Relationships, Beauregard/Yasha - Freeform, Bisexual god mollymauk, Caleb is a useless gay, Eventual Sex, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff Sex, M/M, Modern Era, Needles, Pain, Serious fluff, Tail Kink, Tattoos, caleb level of trauma, car crash, cuteness, embarassed caleb, feel good fic, fire trauma, like so much god damn fluff you guys, mentions of trauma, past trauma car accident, still magical though, vague smut, wet dreams
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-05-09 14:46:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 46,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14718111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caketastrophe_cosplay/pseuds/Caketastrophe_cosplay
Summary: Caleb Widogast is ready to commemorate his new goal to move forward in his life and leave the past in the past with a permanent mark on his body. He just didn't realize that tattoo artists could care so much or be so damn attractive. he will write the rest of his life in brand new Ink.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please enjoy this fic I had way too much fun writing this and honestly if it gets a good response I will probably be motivated to write more for it because it came out really cute.

The buzzing of the tattoo guns hit him the same time that the Green Day song and smell of antiseptic cleanliness did. It immediately brought back memories of white walls and gentle nurses but also of screaming and the splitting pain in his head and all the memories. 

A hand squeezed his own and Caleb inhaled sharply as he was brought back to the present. Nott was peering up at him curiously and gently holding onto his hand.

Caleb took a deep breath and muttered a thank you, because she was his moral support in this and she had agreed with his idea. He would be nowhere in his recovery if it wasn't for Nott. He especially would not be getting a tattoo of this importance without her guiding hand in his. 

There was a blue tiefling at the nearest booth working on a large sleeve piece for a rather handsome looking half Orc. He could see her tongue peeking out between her lips as she did some detailed shading on what appeared to be tentacles and a ship? Some kind of sea monster piece, but the artist and her customer were facing away and he couldn't see it in too much clarity or detail. 

"Are you okay Caleb?" Nott at his side was checking with him for the fifth or sixth time since they had gotten into the car that afternoon and he nodded. 

"Ja. Let’s uh. Let’s go see at the counter if they have any open spots." he took the first step into the shop, aptly called Peacock Ink and Piercings, and strode up to the rather large woman behind the counter. Her hair was braided with beads of blues and dark grey and her eyes were a stunning hetero-chromatic of purple and icy blue. If there was a woman that could be hailed as the queen of gothic it would be this wonderful woman. She had a cut black tank top on that when she turned to file some paperwork showed the edges of black skeletal wings tattooed onto his shoulder blades. Caleb admired the work in silence before he cleared his throat at the counter. 

"Ah hallo, yes I would like to uh... hopefully get a tattoo today." He tapped nervously on the counter the cool glass sending pleasant tingles up his spine that were keeping him calmer. The woman nodded silently as she shifted some papers around. 

"Do you have an appointment?" 

Caleb faltered slightly, he knew it was a popular establishment based upon reviews but he had been hoping to get in for just a small tattoo. 

"No. It is a small tattoo though and it is nothing extravagant. Are there any spots right now?" He knew that if he didn't get it right now his confidence would falter and he would maybe never get it, even though it was so important to him. 

"Um we should have something. Just give me a minute. What is your name?" She was searching for forms and pulled together a clipboard for him. 

"Caleb. Caleb Widogast."

The woman nodded and she handed over the clipboard and a pen. 

"Here, just fill these out for us while I go talk to one of the artists. Did you have a preference for style or artist?" He shook his head no and she turned to leave the desk and head into the back room. Caleb started looking over all the forms and had just started writing his name when there was a shout from the back that made him flinch. It was followed by laughter and an incredibly amused voice.

"Come on that wasn't so bad. You're fine and it looks great! Let me just get the jewelry in for you and you will be all set." There was some quiet speaking and he heard the woman from the desk speak up for a moment as tools were shifted around. Caleb moved over to one of the chairs in the first room and he and Nott both sat down while he looked over the paperwork. 

His hands shook slightly as he filled out the information but it wasn't for fear of needles or tattoos. 

He signed off on all the documents just in time to look up and see a gentleman leaving the backroom and coming up to the counter to pay for whatever sort of piercing he had gotten himself. The woman was at the counter again and Caleb withered a glance at Nott but she was staring down at her phone typing away furiously. He stood and walked the clipboard over to her and set it on the counter as the other man left. 

"All set on the forms?"

"Ja." She took the clipboard, looked it over and smiled softly at him. 

"Excellent. My name is Yasha and once he's done cleaning up Mollymauk Tealeaf will be your artist." She finished speaking right as a man rounded the back hallway and sauntered out towards the counter. Caleb did a literal double take at the lavender marvel of a tiefling that wandered up to them. 

His hair was a dark plum purple with even darker almost black roots that curled softly past his chin. He was practically pierced and tattooed from head to toe and each piece was beautiful and accented his gorgeous face. His eyes were a crystal red with the centers a slightly paler tone and his tight jeans and sleeveless fuchsia and teal shirt with bleach splatters on it left little to the imagination. Gods but he had his ears pierced all the way up and gauged, a glittering septum ring and necklaces to match all the other pieces of jewelry embedded in his skin. Caleb was blatantly staring now but he had just noticed the beautifully pierced and decorated horns on his head and he was so much to take in all at once his brain was overloading. Sensory overload was an understatement.

Fuck, but he was really hot. 

A hand was extended towards him and Caleb had to blink and remind himself how to move his arms before he shook it with as firm a grip as he could muster. 

"Why hello there. I see you've met the lovely Yasha she is one of our fantastic artists here. I'm Mollymauk Tealeaf, but please call me Molly. Owner of this fine establishment and your tattoo artist today."

"Lucky me." he couldn't stop the words from leaving his lips, mumbled and slightly strained. Molly just laughed and released his hand. "Caleb" he belatedly introduced himself and winced at his poor attempts at conversation.

"I was going to say the same thing." He smirked and Caleb felt his face heat up and his gaze immediately drop to the floor. He was so fucked but there was no backing out now. He had already signed the paperwork and Nott had come all the way here with him he had to get this done. This was about healing and coming to terms with what had happened.

"So why don't you come on over here. Step into my office." The extravagant man motioned him over to one of the free tattooing chairs and slid easily into the rolling chair that was meant for him. Caleb shot one last look over at Nott and she smiled encouragingly at him. It was all he needed to take the first step over that threshold into the tattooing area. He sat uncomfortably on the chair and fiddled with his fingers in his lap.

"What can I do for you today Caleb? Yasha mentioned something small?" Caleb nodded and reached up to shimmy slightly out of his large overcoat and roll his sleeve up on his right arm. 

"Yes, I am looking to get a date. Right here in this font." He pointed to his upper arm and handed over a folded piece of paper to Mollymauk. 

“Oh a date? Well I mean I don’t normally date customers but I can make an exception.” Caleb spluttered at that and Molly laughed as he patted his shoulder reassuringly. “I’m joking we are very professional here.” There was a sharp giggling laugh from the booth with the blue tiefling at that and Molly rolled his eyes and turned to the paper in his hands. 

Caleb was embarrassed but he felt a warm sense of affection start to settle in his stomach. The light-hearted flirting was kind of nice. 

The tiefling looked the paper over and nodded before he swiveled over to Yasha and gave her the paper.

"Yasha will you be a dear and make a copy of this for the transfer lines." She nodded and went off towards the computer as Molly pushed back dramatically and slid over towards him.

"Should be easy and quick enough. Can I ask what the date is for?" He started to set things up on the table near the chair and glanced over towards Caleb to try and read his expression. Caleb avoided eye contact and his body stilled completely as the air left his lungs. He did not know this man, he did not owe him anything but he was about to let him put something permanent onto his body. He swallowed and his hand rubbed the back of his neck nervously. 

"It's a uh... release date from... the hospital." He left it at that, deciding not to go into the rough details about how he had only recently been allowed out of intensive psychiatric care and Molly could clearly see that the date was from five years previous. He was buzzing with nerves, worried that Mollymauk might have been uncomfortable with the tattoo now that he knew what it was for. 

There was no reaction except a resolute nod from the man. 

"Congrats." Caleb blinked in shock and looked up at the man as he busied himself with cleaning and setting up. Molly turned to him in his spinning chair and held out his inner left wrist. Directly across his wrist was a date from two years ago in black ink. "I know how that feels and I can tell you that its freeing to put it down somewhere."

Caleb's organs felt like they were all pressed up into his throat and he pursed his lips as he tried to sort through the onslaught of emotions that were filling him. 

It was such a simple thing but it meant a lot. So few words could convey such a wonderful feeling of acceptance? That wasn't the right word but he fought the stinging in his eyes and nodded mutely. 

"Thank you for that..." he cleared his throat just in time for Yasha to step up to them with two pieces of paper. 

Mollymauk turned and grabbed the sheets with a smile. 

"Lovely. Let me see the different sizes." He looked at the transfer pieces and rolled his chair abruptly into Caleb personal space and the man stiffened slightly. Caleb knew he was going to have to be close to the man that was how tattoos worked but he hadn't thought about what he would do if that man was, good looking and HEAVENS forbid nice. 

Mollymauk seemed to have noticed his stiffening because he paused in his rolling and his eyes searched his face. Caleb looked away quickly and didn't make eye contact. 

"I'm just going to look at the sizes and shave the hair from your arm okay?" Caleb nodded and held his arm out for him. His fists were clenched to keep his hands from shaking. 

Molly's hands were incredibly warm as they settled gently on his elbow to hold his arm still. Antiseptic filled the air as he opened a clean wipe and prepped the skin. He shaved any hair from the area on his shoulder and Caleb was just focused on each time his warm fingers touched his upper arm and his elbow as he maneuvered around to make sure everything was ready. The stencil was cool in contrast to his nerves that were alight under his skin in anticipation, dread, excitement and anxiety. 

"Alright look at that and let me know if the size and placement are what you want." Molly held up a mirror and in the reflection, he could see his own shoulder with the delicate date in a larger type-writer font across his upper arm. It was in a pale blue washable ink and it was even and straight across and absolutely perfect. It was perfect and it was overwhelming and seeing it on his skin made the reality of everything hit him at once and his breath left his mouth in a choked sob. 

He could hear Nott skittering out of the chair in the distance at the sound of his distress, bless her kind soul. 

"Caleb are you okay?" He could just barely see her head peeking up over the counter to look back towards the tattooing chairs. 

"I'm f-fine..." hot tears fell down his cheeks and his voice caught but he was okay, just choked up. 

A gentle hand settled on his other shoulder and a comforting warmth found its way into him as his shoulder was rubbed with a gentle thumb. 

"He will be fine. It's just a lot to take in but we're going to go as slowly as you need. Okay Caleb?" He felt like those words had been said before but probably not in this context. Most people were terrified of the pain but he could tell by the tone of his voice that this artist knew that he wasn't afraid of the pain. He wasn't crying in fear. It was a twisted sense of relief and finality and closure. Closure he so desperately needed in his life on a chapter that had already taken so much from him.

"Caleb. You still with me?" Mollymauk was still holding onto his shoulder and he looked up to meet his eyes and wiped his tears onto the back of his hand. One very deep breath later and he could actually speak again.

"Ja. I am here. The placement is perfect. I love it." He watched the most blinding and beautiful smile stretch across the tieflings mouth and he couldn't help but smile softly in return. "Alright let's get this over with then." 

Molly nodded and his horn jewelry jingled as he turned to finish preparations. His warm hand left Caleb’s shoulder and he missed it but it was okay because now the nerves about the actual tattooing was happening. He was about to have a needle inject ink into his skin. Oh, ja this was going to hurt. 

He shifted on the chair and Molly out a fresh pair of gloves and the snap brought his attention over to the artist as he started adding the ink to the needles and making sure they were working. 

He was really fucking beautiful. 

The blue of the gloves added a contrast to his purple skin that was riddled with poppies and roses and a detailed serpent was twisting through the flowers and leaves and it all bloomed into a beautiful peacock up the side of the delicate column of his neck. The ink extended up over his sharp jawline and onto his cheekbones that stood out and his eyes were that beautiful red with a paleness to the center that showed he was focused on his needles. 

There was so much to unpack in his appearance between all the ink and the studs and as he licked his lip Molly saw at least two studs in that tongue and that did things to him he wasn't willing to entertain right at this second. 

It took a moment for Caleb to realize that he was staring directly into the pale center of those red eyes, but when he did he immediately felt the heat in his cheeks and he dropped his gaze to his hands. A chuckle fell from the tieflings lips and suddenly Mollymauk was right next to him and he was positioning his arm and leaning in with the gun at the ready. 

"Alright you ready to start?"

"Whenever you are." The machine started with a buzzing and he felt the hairs on his neck stand up as a million thoughts about what this could feel like ran through his head. 

And then it was happening and it was pressing into his skin and he was not sure what to make of it. It was more like scratching than poking and while it hurt it was hardly anything worth mentioning. 

"How are you doing? Not bad, right?" Molly grinned up at him.

"Not at all. It's kind of nice." It was kind of nice. The slight pain mixed with the vibrations and it was more relaxing than anything else. He could see himself getting used to it if he wasn't careful. 

"Tell me about yourself while I work. What brought you to this shop?" Molly was clearly very focused on his work but he was listening, that much Caleb knew. 

"I was told that the artists were very talented. A friend of mine has gotten work done..." he paused and looked to the side and cut all his losses. "They did not mention how attractive the staff was." 

Mollymauk laughed and gave him a delighted look as he picked up more ink and went back to doing the linework. 

"I appreciate the compliment."

"How did you know I was talking about you?" Caleb couldn't help his snark as he gave the man a look. It didn't even phase him in his work and Molly shrugged.

"I'm pretty cute, or so I’ve been told. Besides you were staring at me pretty hard there for a bit." Caleb felt his cheeks flush and he looked away to the other side of the tattoo parlor. He'd certainly been obvious about that, damn it. 

"Sorry..."

"Don't apologize. I liked it." The smirk in his voice was real but the undertone was serious and his eyes were kind when he spoke. As much as he was flashy on the outside Caleb felt himself falling fast for the kindness he was glimpsing in these past few moments. 

"Did you do all of your tattoos yourself?" his question rushed passed his gates, leaving into the open air once it had been asked and the two fell into a moment of silence, save for the gun continuing to buzz as Molly worked. 

"Not all of them. Yasha did some of them, and Jester did the peacock piece which I adore." From two chairs over Jester leaned away from her work and shot him a grin that rivaled his own. 

"I knew you would like it that way instead of the other way. I still think you should get a hamster Unicorn on your ass though." She waggled her eyebrows in a way that was frankly an impressive display of facial muscle control before turning back to the tattoo she was working on. From here Caleb could tell that it was a large Octopus, sea monster that was crushing a ship in its tentacles from below the waves. It was very detailed and a beautiful piece.

"Not on your life Jester." Molly was grinning but both artists turned back to their work and he shrugged at Caleb. "There you have it. Did a lot of them myself but I enjoy supporting other artists in the area as much as I can.”

"Who did the date on your wrist?" He hadn't wanted to ask so specifically about that, but it was on his mind and he felt that maybe because Molly had brought up the tattoo in the first place that he would be willing to share. 

"Yasha did. She gave it to me when I asked her." Mollymauk spoke clearly but he had a hyper focus to his work that showed his slight discomfort with the topic. Caleb watched the pinch of his eyebrows and his focus on the lines and he could see his own date, his own marker of freedom that was being put permanently into his skin. He could understand the reluctance to speak about it. He was only having a hard time grasping that someone as beautiful and bright as Molly might struggle with something enough to be hospitalized like him. 

"Thank you for doing mine." 

Mollymauk paused in his work and pulled away to face Caleb full on. He had a very serious expression on his face.

"I will do any tattoo you want in a heartbeat. Especially something this important, and at your pace. I can tell you've dealt with enough shit to not need any more for a long time. Let me be here for you even if it's just to put a few meaningful numbers on your arm." He smiled softly and that smile filled up dark and empty corners in Caleb that he didn't know had been there before that moment. He didn't feel worthy of them, he still had a lot to atone for but at least he could bask in this maybe a little bit. 

"Anything I want? Even if it’s stupid?"

"Anything you want. There is no such thing as a stupid tattoo."

"What if I wanted a number nine in the middle of my forehead?" Molly laughed and shook his head at him. 

"Well that would certainly be silly but if it meant something to you I would never call it a stupid tattoo. Who am I to say what’s important to you?"

Caleb melted under those words and restrained himself fully from saying aloud that this man was very quickly becoming important to him. Mollymauk was important. He had just met this fucking tattoo artist and he had been so understanding in every way.

The tattoo commenced after that point without many interruptions and they talked back and forth about what they did. Caleb shared that he was a historical researcher and restoration curator at the old library in the center of town and he enjoyed working with the precarious and extremely old texts that they would receive from long dead civilizations. Molly hung on every word he spoke and it was flattering to say the least. He asked the right questions and seemed interested in what he enjoyed doing. He didn't even realize that he was babbling on and on until Mollymauk pulled away from his arm and set the machine aside and stripped off his gloves. 

"Alright we are all set here. Let me just clean it up and you can take a look before we bandage it." Caleb hadn't even thought about the fact that he was getting a tattoo and it had hardly taken any time at all. He blinked and looked down at his shoulder. The skin there was red and slightly puffy but the delicate lines of black ink were stark in contrast and his mouth dried up as he realized what he had done. 

"May I?" Caleb blinked as he realized that the purple tiefling was in his space again with a clean wipe for his skin. He nodded and let him clean off the tattoo and before he could miss the man's presence there was a small mirror in front of him and he was staring into his own blue eyes. 

With a slow movement he shifted his gaze away from his own face and instead took in his bare upper arm and the ink that stared back at him. He teared up again as he stared at the permanent reminded that he was not in that place anymore. That he was free and that he was never going back. His hand came up to his mouth as he shuddered in a deep breath and stared at the contrast between the dark black Ink and his skin. He felt relief for the future and pain for his past and it swirled through his veins like oil and water in a dark tunnel. It bled together like he had bled for his sins and it brought him a moment of clarity and closure that was everything he had hoped it would be. He was not healed yet. Far from it, but this was a step in the right direction. Giving a final date to his time made it feel like the next milestone was not as far off as it seemed some days. 

This was progress and progress was better than being stagnant. 

_"Danke. Ich danke dir sehr... Th-this means so much. Thank you."_ He was choked up but he was so happy and he could see Nott in the mirror watching him and her eyes looked a little misty too. Gods but he owed her the world. Molly was staring at him with a look he couldn't decipher in his state but it boarded somewhere on adoration and that was certainly a thought.

Caleb turned to look at Nott and gave her the widest most genuine smile he could, and it was small and still a little broken but her impossibly wide goblin grin in response filled his heart with joy and he laughed out loud. Something he was still getting used to doing.

"Wow..." The single word had slipped out of Molly's open mouth and Caleb turned to look at him as he spoke and blinked away some of his tears. Mollymauk was staring at him like the sun was shining out of his ass and he seemed to shake himself from a trance and busy himself with the plastic wrap and tape he was setting up to properly cover the tattoo.

"Right. I uh take it you're happy with it then, darling?" Caleb nodded enthusiastically and slapped a hand down onto the artists shoulder with a firm grip and a reassuring squeeze and he leaned in closely so that they were a few inches away from each other.

"I absolutely love it. It is perfect. Thank you, Mollymauk Tealeaf. You have given me a gift." Caleb watched with fascination as the tieflings cheeks turned a much darker shade of purple and he released him from his grip.

"I uh. Wow. Well that makes me feel like I did something incredible." He laughed and it was a beautiful sound and Caleb though that he would very much like to hear that laugh again sometime. Hopefully soon. "I hardly did anything, you were the one brave enough to get it done. I was simply the one with the right equipment to do it for you." He chuckled and started to wrap up his arm and tape it down safely. Caleb felt the pressure of those hands on his arm again and he enjoyed it while it lasted.

Soon enough they were both standing and Molly was guiding him over towards the desk with a gentle hand in the small of his back and Caleb was really pleased that his hand was there. it was a friendly gesture at most, he made sure to remind himself not to read into it too much but regardless he enjoyed it immensely.

"Alright, Yasha will ring you out for the tattoo. Ah actually..." Molly busied himself with the computer as Caleb went around the desk and showed off the ink to Nott. She was on her toes to see it but her eyes went very wide and started to water as she looked at the simple line of ink. Soon enough she was wrapped around his waist in a tight hug and he was smiling and hugging her back.

"It’s perfect Caleb...." She sniffled and he felt touched by the extent of her emotions for him.

"Thanks to you it actually got done." She snorted and pulled away with an exaggerated eyeroll.

"All I did was drive your ass down to here to get it done."

"Ja, because if I had to drive myself I would have chickened out." They both laughed and Caleb abruptly remembered he needed to pay and turned back to the counter as his hand fished around for his wallet. He glanced up at Molly and had to look away when both he and Yasha were staring at him.

"How much do I owe you?"

"Nothing." Caleb blanched and stared wide-eyed at the man. He watched as Yasha had the exact same reaction as him before she elbowed him hard in the side, enough that the tiefling almost fell over. He dramatically gripped at his side with both of his hands.

"OW! Yasha what the fuck? I was joking!" He gave her a glare and Caleb was privy to a silent conversation the two had. Based on his instincts he could see that it went back and forth several times before Yasha rolled her eyes and became smug. Mollymauk on the other end looked rather pouty and defeated but as far as actual context he had no idea what they were discussing with their eyes.

"Um..."

"Discounted price. You only owe me $60" His breath left him in a rush and he stared dumbly at the tiefling.

"A-Are you sure? I should really give you more-!"

"If you argue Caleb Widogast I will keep dropping the price. Now you only owe me $55." His smile was wide and teasing and Caleb shuffled quickly and desperately for his wallet and handed over his card in a flustered and desperate attempt for the man to stop dropping the already ridiculous price. He could charge him whatever he wanted but Caleb was going to tip as much as he felt like.

Mollymauk chuckled as he ran the card and handed over the receipt for him to sign. Caleb slid it towards himself and signed. He guarded the edge with his hands as he wrote in one hundred as the tip so that Molly wouldn't be able to see it.

He paused and glanced up at the frankly stupidly attractive man at the counter before he made his choice. His heart was in his throat and he could feel his rushing pulse and the heat that was surely staining his face completely red as he scribbled something else onto the bottom of the paper and then took his card back. The slip was clutched in his hand and he could see the curiosity that Mollymauk was eyeing him with but he simply gathered the last remaining vestiges of his courage and handed the paper over with a small smile.

"Thank you again so very much. We will be back if we ever need anything." Caleb reached out and shook the man’s hand one last time firmly. It was really an excuse to touch his hand one more time and their handshake lingered before Nott tugged on his sleeve and he pulled away.

"Alright let’s head home then." He ushered them both out of the shop rather quickly as the embarrassment of what he had done set in and he was fueled by his instinct to run away.

"Whoa whoa Caleb why are we running? Did you rob him or something?!?" Caleb WISHED he had robbed him, gods his face was on fucking fire it felt like. He probably looked like a tomato.

"I wish that was it." He grimaced as they walked down the sidewalk. Nott just stared at him in blatant confusion and pulled his arm until he came to a stop.

"What did you do?"

"I gave him my number." As the realization sunk in his buried his face in his hands in complete and utter embarrassment in the middle of the sidewalk.

"You did what?!?! You just met him!" Caleb wanted to at that moment on that spot in the sidewalk disappear. Just cease to exist because surely there was nothing more embarrassing than what he had just done. He was so terribly, horribly wrong.

In his pocket he felt the vibration of his phone as a ringing interrupted their conversation. Nott still seemed to be struggling with what he had done, that he himself barely understood why he had done. He grumbled and pulled his phone out of his deep coat pocket and spared only a second of a glance at the screen to see that it was an unfamiliar number before he was already picking it up and placing the phone up to his ear. He didn't know who was calling but their timing was not the best at all, he was clearly dealing with extreme embarrassment here.

"Hallo, Widogast speaking"

"Hey so uh, I was wondering what you're doing tomorrow." Caleb almost screamed as he recognized the voice on the end of the line and he turned on the spot to stare back at the entrance of the Peacock ink and Piercing Parlor. Leaning outside the front door was Mollymauk Tealeaf himself, casually against the side of the building with his cell phone in his hand and a grin more wicked than Satan himself upon his lips. Caleb did shriek this time and cursed up a colorful storm in Zemnian as he almost dropped his phone on the spot and had to attempt to catch it multiple times before he was able to hold on to it in shaking hands.

Nott had abandoned him on the sidewalk and was grumbling to herself as she walked towards the car. "Useless gay man." were the only words he heard and it rang very true.

He could see Mollymauk full body laughing from where he was in front of the shop as Caleb slowly brought the phone back to his ear.

"Um... ah tomorrow you said?" He could hear the man’s breathy laughter and he would have died on the spot if it weren't for how much he liked hearing his laugh.

"Yeah. I have the night off, figured you might be free and well I could be reading the signs completely wrong but if you're interested I know a great restaurant. “Caleb grinned and had to cover his face with his hand.

"Ja. That uh...That sounds good. Text me a time and I'll pick you up after work."

"Excellent. I can't wait." There was a click and the line went dead but their eyes stayed connected and Caleb felt for the first time in over five years like he had been given not only closure for his past mistakes but also that he was finally writing a new beginning. He was forging a new path and this time he was writing it carefully each step of the way in permanent Ink.


	2. Boardwalks and Books

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW! There was such a positive response to the first chapter that I just had to write more because it felt right? So here is almost 9k of fluff. It's all just fluff.
> 
> So I hope you enjoy and I'm super excited to see where this whole thing goes. As always a huge shout out to the widomauk server for all the support and love of this story and encouragement of my writing. <3

Caleb stared at himself in the mirror and he grimaced. 

_"Scheisse."_ He turned and looked at his faded but soft shirt with his worn and actually shabby jeans and wow yeah he couldn't do this. He didn’t have nice clothing what was he thinking?

_"Scheisse, Scheisse, Scheisse!"_ He ran his hands through his messy and quite frankly too long red hair as he resumed the pacing he had been keeping up consistently for about an hour. 

"Caleb, calm down. It's just a date." Nott's voice rang out from the kitchen of their shoe box apartment and he threw his hands up into the air in exasperation. 

"That's the exact problem! It's a date! A DATE! And I don't have anything even remotely... good? Clean? Decent even, to wear! I don't even know what he likes? What if he was joking? _Verdammt!"_ he swore again and turned back to his fairly bare closet. None of this would have been a problem if Nott hadn't commented on the fact that his wardrobe apparently made him look like a thirty-five year old nerd. Which was bullshit because it was all fairly fashionable. Sure most of his jackets had elbow patches but that was just something good jackets had right?

Caleb sunk to his knees neck to his bed and let his face fall directly into the comforter. Why had he even done this to himself in the first place? Surely Molly would understand if he cancelled and never made an appearance ever again in his life? 

His chest ached at that thought and Caleb whined quietly from where he sat slumped against the side of his bed. He was a full grown man that had not been on a proper date in over five years, almost fifteen if one counted the time he had spent in the hospital. Okay so it was fifteen years since he had been on a date of any kind and if one considered what a proper date entailed then maybe it was even longer than that. Had he ever been on a proper date before at all? His thoughts spiraled and he sighed deeply. 

He wished the confidence he had felt when he wrote down his number in the first place was still in him. Caleb looked at his right shoulder and pulled the collar of his beige v neck sweater over his shoulder to expose the thin black lines that made up his new tattoo. It was officially one day old now and he had it covered in nice layer of the moisturizer that Mollymauk had suggested.

Seeing the permanent dark lines on his skin was still weird, it made tingles run up his spine and filled him with a sense of pride. He loved it so much. However, now he was beginning to think that the adrenaline of getting the tattoo had encouraged a very impulsive and very idiotic decision of his. He knew nothing about dating and he had agreed over text to pick up Mollymauk in less than thirty minutes now and he was two seconds from a full blown anxiety attack about the whole thing. _Verdammt_ , he had been doing so well this week too.

Nott's little footsteps could be heard as she walked into the room, but Caleb refused to lift his head as he focused on breathing.

"Caleb, it's going to be just fine." She was crouched next to him and rubbed a gentle hand over his back, he assumed, to try and sooth him. "You have to leave now if you want to make it to the shop by six-thirty. Besides, I think you're worrying too much again. He seems to really want to go on this date with you, based on what you told me he had messaged you." She moved her hand to pet the top of his hair gently as he gathered his thoughts, and hopefully himself. "But, if you don't want to go you're welcome to bail on that flashy tattoo artist and stay here to watch a movie with me instead." 

He couldn't stop the short laugh that left his lips at Nott calling Mollymauk a 'Flashy tattoo artist," because it was true. He wanted to go, he just didn't think it was going to turn out very good. 

"Nein, I will go. I want to. I just am… anxious." She nodded at him and tugged hard on his arm. 

"Well then, get up and go. I know it’s scary but it will be worth it. I'm sure it will actually be great! You deserve to have some fun, you work too much." He listened to her as he usually did and stood up slowly. She held his hand softly in her own and tugged him out of the room and towards the kitchen. She held out his coat because it was still early spring and it could get chilly. He took it and put the comforting weight around his shoulders; something about the heaviness of his well worn coat made everything seem more easily accomplished. He could do this. After all he had made the first move, so it would be a total dick move if he backed out now. 

"Alright. Do I look as terrible as I think I do?" He held his arms out and looked at Nott, who had climbed up onto one of their kitchen stools.

"If by terrible you mean normal and wearing five different shades of brown then yeah." She grinned a wide and jagged smile but it made him feel warm anyway. He dropped his arms with a silent laugh. 

"Good enough I suppose." He grabbed his keys for their small car and headed out. He could do this, it was going to be a fun date. 

_______________________________________

Molly knew that he must have been insufferable almost all day at the shop. He was almost constantly humming one tune or another under his breath, and they were all very cheesy romantic songs that never matched the music that was playing in the shop. He had barely accomplished any paperwork today, and the two tattoos he had done had taken him longer than normal to ink up. That was okay though, because the large octopus piece he was doing on a young woman was detailed and they had previously agreed on multiple sessions to finish it up. 

Now he was just sitting idly behind the desk, staring desperately at his phone. Yasha was closing the shop tonight and he had a hot date with a stunningly beautiful ginger named Caleb. 

_Molly thought back to his feelings when he had turned over the receipt that Caleb had given him and had seen that beautiful ten digit number in a neat and tidy scrawl underneath the one hundred dollar tip. His heart had tried to leave his chest straight through his rib cage and his brain had completely shut down. Yasha had leaned over his shoulder to look at it and whistled low and long. She'd prompted him to call him right away and Molly decided to do one better. He had saved the number in his phone and then immediately ran outside of the shop while it was ringing to watch Caleb and Nott have an interesting conversation on the sidewalk. It had been worth it to run out there and watch Caleb answer the phone._

_"Hallo, Widogast speaking?" That voice was just as nice on his ears as he remembered it, even through the phone line. Molly took a deep breath before he replied as smoothly as he could. Perfect opportunities to tease like this didn't come too often._

_"Hey so uh, I was wondering what you're doing tomorrow." He breathed the words into the phone, and everything was worth it to watch Caleb struggle with the phone and light up like a red Christmas tree as he turned on his heel to meet his gaze._

Molly felt a dumb smile start to take over his face as he buried his face down in his arms and laughed to himself breathlessly. He could feel Yasha's eyes on him but he couldn't stop feeling so happy. It was a rare occurrence that someone interested him enough to make him think about them all day. Sure he had the occasional fling here or there, but this was very different. This gave him butterflies. Those deep blue eyes and scruffy jaw did things to him.

 

He hadn't felt butterflies before.

A hand smacked down roughly on his back and he jolted upwards with a curse. 

"What the ever loving fuck?!" Molly snarled the words as he turned to find Beauregard grinning down at him like she knew something he didn't. Molly groaned and shrugged her hand off his back. 

"Oh gods, who let you in here?" 

"I have an appointment today you dick. Yasha is finishing the piece on my back." She got a slightly far-away look as she mentioned Yasha and Mollymauk rolled his eyes. 

"Oh good. I'm sure you're just thrilled to have her hands on your thighs-" A hand clamped down over his mouth and he leveled a glare at Beau that was mostly teasing. He made sure that he had her gaze when he licked across her entire palm, making sure that both tongue piercings were felt and that there was a lot of spit. 

She immediately yanked her hand away with a disgusted look. 

"Ew man! Just keep it down about that." She nodded her head towards where Yasha was getting set up in her section of the tattoo studio and he chuckled. 

"Don't worry Beau. I'm actually leaving as soon as my ride gets here. You'll have the whole studio to yourselves." he bounced his eyebrows at her in a way he knew she hated, but he didn't care because his phone was vibrating and he was getting a text message. One glance at the name on the notification had him grinning like an idiot and he snatched up the phone quickly. 

**Gorgeous Man:** Hey I'm almost to the tattoo shop. Do you want to meet me out front?

Molly grinned at the perfect punctuation and spelling that was used, something about it was so very nerdy and he liked it. Intelligence was sexy, especially when it came with a man that looked like Caleb. He tried not to get ahead of himself, and ignored Beauregard who was reading over his shoulder and making grossed out faces. She was unimportant compared to the conversation at hand. 

**Peacocking101:** Perfect! I'll be out there waving my arms crazily. Can't miss me.

**Gorgeous Man:** Oh...Okay.

He snickered at the last response before sliding his phone into his slightly worn black jeans. He actually wore a button down shirt today to work because he knew they had this little date planned. It was still a shirt he loved immensely because the dark navy fabric was accented with gold in swirling patterns of compasses and chains and french flourishes. It was gaudy but subtle and it matched the gold studs and hoops he had placed in all of his various piercings that morning. He'd naturally rolled up the sleeves for work and maybe also just a bit because he wanted to show off his tattoos; they were very nice and he liked them a lot. 

Molly made sure to slide his wallet and his keys into his small tattered patchwork backpack before he slung it over his shoulder and headed to the door. 

"Alright Yasha I'm off. Don't have too much fun ladies!" Yasha looked up and nodded at him. 

"Wait, Molly"

He paused and looked over his shoulder at her. "Yes my dear?"

"Have fun. Also, what are you doing with Penelope tonight?" She gave him a look and he frowned and glanced out of the store window. 

"I'll come pick her up after dinner. Don't worry dear, I doubt I'll be going to anyone's house tonight but my own." He laughed, and with a wave over his shoulder at his two favorite lesbians he was waltzing out the doorway. It was a little chilly out so he happily swung his favorite purple leather jacket up and onto his shoulders. The sun was just starting to set so he pulled out his sunglasses and slid them on to his face. 

He waited for a few brief minutes before he watched Caleb pull up in an older four door car that was so very fitting for him. Molly made sure to wave his hands obnoxiously over his head just to watch Caleb fluster slightly before he jogged over to the car in the small parking lot and opened up the passenger door. His first tug on the handle showed it was locked, and Caleb shuffled around in the car almost desperately to unlock the door by reaching across the seat. Gods he was cute. 

Molly slid into the car with ease and tossed his bag to the floor beneath his feet. His tail got settled to the side of his thighs and he had to watch his horns on the doorframe but all was well and he grinned easily over at Caleb. 

"Why hello there." Caleb had his hands firmly planted on the steering wheel, but he tried for a soft smile. 

"Hallo. How… uh. How are you? How was work?" He slid his seatbelt on while Caleb spoke and waved his hand in the air. The rings on his fingers glittered in the setting sunlight through the windshield and he watched Caleb's gaze get distracted by it for a moment. 

"Excellent. I couldn't wait for it to be over though, if I'm being honest. What a drag to be stuck inside on a nice day like this!" He grinned and motioned to the beautiful sun on the horizon. Caleb nodded but seemed briefly lost in thought before he shook his head and fidgeted with the gear shift of the car. 

"I see. So where did you want to go, you mentioned having a plan?" Molly nodded enthusiastically and quickly pulled up directions on his phone and started the GPS. They had been texting this morning about odd things here and there and what they were planning to do tonight. He had decided that even though the air was a little chilly it would be wonderful to grab dinner at the pier near his tattoo shop. They could chat over some seafood, or whatever place Caleb wanted to eat at, because there were plenty of options and they could maybe walk on the beach or something. Molly had made sure not to get his hopes up too high for this date; he had seen how shy Caleb was when he had given him his tattoo and he was not going to ruin this. 

Something in him told him this was worth savoring, and he liked to listen to his gut. Molly had always believed that his gut feeling was just the Moonweaver telling him things in her own way. This was a no pressure first date, no expectations, no goals. Just a time to enjoy the company and have a great evening. 

Caleb had a lot of baggage. Molly didn't know what it was exactly, but he knew from experience that slow and steady would be key. 

They set out onto the main roads and Molly fiddled with his hands in the silence for a moment before a song came over the radio that he really adored. He reached to turn it up and then paused, looking at Caleb. 

"Do you mind if I turn the music up?" Caleb glanced over from the road and shook his head, so Molly cranked it to a reasonable level and started drumming his hands onto his lap at the correct beat. He started belting out the lyrics to the familiar song, and he saw Caleb smile and start to laugh as he kept singing to the best of his ability. Molly could carry a tune just fine; he was no Idina Menzel but he could hold his own in a drunk karaoke competition.

"Kissing strangers! Na nananana na till I find someone I love." He laughed as he couldn't keep singing the lyrics because he was smiling too much. He turned the radio down slightly and leaned back in his chair to look at Caleb. 

"So, what music do you listen to? Not this?" Caleb had regained control over his smile, and boy that was a shame because it was pretty. 

"A lot of classical music, but I don't mind the rock or pop music as long as it is not all of the time." Molly nodded at that. He could appreciate a good classical piece every now and then. 

"Classical can be very nice. There's something about a good violin solo that will always get me to cry." He chuckled, and quicker than he anticipated they were arriving at their destination: the boardwalk.

Caleb parked the car in one of the larger parking lots, because they both agreed that the spots on the pier itself were way too expensive for their convenience and it was nice out with their jackets. Molly made sure to sling his backpack over his shoulder as he waited for Caleb to check the car over and get out himself. He gave him a large grin as they started walking. 

"How’s the new tattoo treating you?" Molly looked towards Caleb's shoulder, but his coat was on so it was futile. 

"It's gut. A little itchy but I have put the lotion on it that you suggested." Molly nodded approvingly and tried his best to keep from stepping too close to Caleb. They had only just met each other yesterday; as much as he felt like he wanted to hold his hand, he reminded himself that this needed to go slowly. There would be time for hand holding later. Gods, but even the thought of touching his hands had his heart fluttering and a warmth sitting deep in his chest. He liked it. 

"Excellent. I’ll check it before we part ways just to make sure it's as good as I remember doing." He shoved his hands deep in his pockets to firmly squash the urge to hold any hands. Not yet. "Also, if it starts to get really itchy you can always hit it." Caleb paused in his walking and blinked at him in shock. 

"Hit it? Like punch my own arm?" Molly shook his head with a breathless laugh. 

"No, no. Like slap it with your hand. Just enough that it stings instead of itches. You don't want to scratch it with your nails or the ink will get messed up under the skin." He brought a hand up to his own shoulder and gave it a few slaps to show how it was done. He would know; he got his entire peacock done in two session and BOY had that been a pain in the ass when healing. Itchiest motherfucker he'd gotten yet. 

"I see. And that helps?"

"You bet it does. Trust me, when my peacock was healing I was getting the strangest looks because I would slap my neck almost every ten minutes. The details and colored ink Jester did were very annoying in the healing process." He tilted his neck to the side to show off his neck and the art peeking out from there. Molly noticed Caleb's eyes trail over his skin, and he felt good about it. 

Molly heard more than noticed when they hit the boardwalk because his boots immediately started making a very distinct thud with each step. He loved it. Molly was immediately tempted to speed walk to the amusement park that he knew was closer to the water; he hadn't seen Gustav in weeks and that would have been great. He had a feeling that amusement parks didn't really sit well with Caleb, though. At least not on a first date basis. 

He got the distinct impression from their meeting that Caleb was all about old books and small coffee shops with low lit lanterns. He was a fireplace with a warm mug of coffee after the sun had set, not screaming children and fluffy blue and pink cotton candy. 

Molly snapped his finger as they headed deeper into the crowded boardwalk area, and he gently pinched Caleb's jacket material in his fingers to start tugging him in a direction. 

"Are you hungry yet? Or do we have some time to do some looking around?" Caleb stared at him for a moment before he shrugged nonchalantly. Molly took that as a good sign, and he pulled him off the main road and into the cluster of shops all around. He was giddy with the prospect of showing Caleb something he had never seen before.

They passed by shops that sold salt water taffy, a nautical themed souvenir shop, and other small stores with little crafts and nick nacks of all sorts. Molly had his eyes on a two storied building that he had found by accident one day when he used to work for Gustav. It was tucked between two other buildings, and the panes of glass were dusted with salt from the ocean that made it hard to see through. The gilded letters on the window still very clearly read "Invulnerable Vagrant” on the front, and Molly swung open the door with a gentlemanly bow at the waist for Caleb. 

"After you, sir." Caleb smiled ever so slightly and muttered a 'Danke' as he stepped inside. Curiosity burned inside of Caleb as he stepped into the small first floor of the building and Molly heard the breath catch in his throat. 

They had turned a corner from the small entrance hallway into a cluttered but warm space, with shelves all the way to the ceiling filled with books and rare magical items. There were stones and crystals of all shapes and sizes, and sage hung in bundles from the ceiling near the counter. There were rows and rows of books and older texts upon one of the shelves, and just inside there was also a small cafe that had great coffee and tea. It was cramped in the cozy sense, like a comforting hug of clutter. There was clearly organization; there were just a lot of things in here. 

Caleb made a beeline for one of the shelves lined with books, and Molly chuckled to himself as he started to flip through the books carefully and trace his fingers over the pages of scrawling text. Molly had picked up a book last time he was here, found out that it was in a different language and promptly put it back on the shelf. He'd found a beautiful tarot deck here the very next visit, and every time he visited Mollymauk felt that there was something new to be explored in the shop. He'd also done a sizable piece of ink on the shopkeepers back.

For a moment he watched as Caleb settled in, leaning slightly against the shelves with a book open in his arms, and he allowed himself to preen at the fact that he had been right. It also didn't hurt that Caleb looked good tucked up comfortably against the rows of books with one open in front of him happily. He looked soft in the lamplight, and the corners of his eyes looked less tired and tight now that he was reading. 

Molly could have stared for hours, but that was decidedly creepy so instead he decided to get them some drinks. He wandered over quietly, his tail swaying pleased and flicking just at the tip. He brushed his shoulder up against Caleb's, the contact making his palms tingly and his chest warm.

"Caleb." The man let out a grunt of affirmation that he was listening and Molly laughed at how deep he already was in the book. 

"Darling I'm going to get a latte, do you want anything to drink from the cafe?" His hands flitted near Caleb's back but he pulled them back to his sides carefully, not wanting to push too hard or overstep any boundaries. Caleb liked his space and he was still jumpy; Molly liked to respect that even if his insides were screaming at him to touch and feel that coat and those soft looking ginger locks of hair. He was barely keeping his tail from brushing against the man’s legs right now. 

Caleb looked over his shoulder at him and shied away just a little at their proximity. His eyes searched the pools of red that were Mollymauk's while he thought, and the slightly crinkling of his nose was oh so cute. 

"Ja..... How about just black coffee with almond milk?" Molly nodded and gently reached up to squeeze the man’s shoulder. 

"Perfect. There's a small reading area up that spiral staircase over there. I'll meet you up there with the drinks." A warm hand came to rest of top of his and gave it a quick squeeze, and Molly's heart clenched in time with it. He slid away through the shelves of things, his tail happily flicking behind him as he approached the cafe counter. There behind the divide was the large and impressive form of one Pumat Sol, shop owner and firbold of many talents, one of which was a mean latte and a great cup of joe. 

"Pumat! My dear, how has business been today?" The hulking man turned around from the equipment he was cleaning and smiled fully as he saw Mollymauk. 

"Well if it isn't the talented tattoo artist himself. How about that? Business has been steady as usual. You can't ask for better days than ones that go smoothly." Molly grinned and shrugged.

"You've got me there. I'm happy to do good business any day." The firbold seemed to agree fully as he nodded slowly. 

"Yes indeed. Who is your friend over there with his nose buried halfway through a book already? He's a fast one, isn't he? I just saw him pick that up and he's already a quarter through." Amusement was laced with every single word that left Pumat's mouth and Molly looked over his shoulder with a grin as Caleb flicked rapidly through a book and then traded it for another one that piqued his interest. 

"That is my date for the evening." Molly stared a bit longer than he needed to. "Caleb helps translate and restore historical texts at the museum, and yes it does seem that he quite likes books." Pumat let out an amused chuckle.

"I hope you weren't hoping for him to pay attention to you. You can’t bring a lover of books to a store like this and expect their attention to be on you." Molly grinned and threw his arms out to the side in an exaggerated shrug. 

"Alas, I know. I guess I'll just have to be even more eye catching than I already am in order to keep his attention." He paused and leaned an elbow against the counter, "I'm just glad he's enjoying himself. He deserves a bit of fun."

"Oh everyone deserves a bit of fun. Soooo what can I get for you on this here fine afternoon?" Molly gave both of the orders, and he also snagged a croissant that Pumat promised to toast for him the way he liked it. Molly looked back over his shoulder only to see Caleb missing. His heart jumped for a second, before he reminded himself calmly that he was probably just upstairs like they had discussed. 

He grabbed their drinks and his croissant and very happily bounced his way up the small winding staircase that led to the cozy second floor. There were high back arm chairs here and a window seat with many pillows of different designs and shapes, and that was where he found Caleb. 

He was curled up almost like a cat, his knees tucked up into his chest as his head rested against the windowpane. His eyes were scanning back and forth across the pages, and Molly was frankly a little intimidated at how quickly Caleb was flipping the pages. He definitely could not read that quickly. 

Caleb was smiling softly, and that did things to Molly that he didn't want to think about just yet. It was frankly gorgeous, and with the late afternoon sun streaming in through the window, his ginger hair was golden red and framed his freckled cheeks beautifully. 

He almost dropped their drinks and food, he was so distracted. His smile was light, and he balanced himself with his tail as he wove around the chairs and floor pillows to make his way to the other side of the window seat.

"You almost made me drop my croissant. You looked so nice sitting in the sunlight." Caleb looked up immediately and he blushed brightly across his cheekbones. He tried to hide it subtly, but Molly could see the small smile that curled the edges of his lips. Caleb met his eyes, and with an almost bored tone replied.

"Actually it's ‘You could have made me drop my croissant’.” For a moment Molly thought he was correcting his grammar, but the barely discernible snark told him a much bigger story and his eyes widened with both bubbling amusement and excitement.

“Did you just correct my vine reference?” His tail perked up and lashed excitedly behind him. 

Caleb chuckled quietly and put his finger in the book to mark his place as he closed it softly. He looked down shyly, but his smile gave him away once again.

“No. What would give you that idea?” Molly was absolutely beaming, and he handed Caleb his coffee with almond milk and sunk down into the window seat across from him. 

“What a shame. It would have been a funny correction.” Caleb snickered slightly and Molly felt his heart warm. He was going off a long shot here, but he really wanted to know if his assumption was right. 

“You know, I almost got some Fr e sh A Voca do to go with my croissant.” He watched with anticipation as Caleb hid his smile behind the book in his hands, and he watched his shoulders bounce slightly with barely contained laughter. His own chest hurt from trying not to laugh himself.

“Nein, Mollymauk. You can only get that at Del Taco.” Molly lost it. He absolutely lost it, and he knew he was laughing too loudly and that it was probably obnoxious, but this glorious man sitting tucked up in this window seat was correcting his shitty vine quotes and he was living for it. 

He slowed his laughter a little bit and sat up from his hunched over position. A bit of his latte had spilled down his pant leg and he cursed about it between his laughs Caleb was laughing into his hand, and it was beautiful. 

“I didn’t think you were to type to get that kind of reference, if I’m being honest.” Molly’s voice was breathless and he took a sip of his drink to try and clear his throat.

“There is still a lot you don’t know about me, or what ‘type’ I am Mollymauk.” Caleb was smug with his book in hand and coffee in the other, and Molly was smitten.

“You’re right. I can’t wait to learn more.” His gaze softened, and that telltale blush spread across Caleb’s cheeks again and it was warm in the late afternoon light. Everything about this was soft and warm, and he wouldn’t have changed a thing. 

They talked about Caleb’s work and how he became interested in restoring historical texts, and the conversation flowed from topic to topic. Molly spent a good portion of the evening talking about the tattoo shop and how he and Yasha had started it together. Caleb loved hearing about Jester and how she had joined them shortly after as the wonderful artist that she was, and Molly knew his pride and appreciation for both of his employees showed in his voice. 

Afternoon turned into dusk, and they had ended up shoulder to shoulder in the window seat as Caleb showed him the books he had picked out to take him with him. One of them was a historical text about early sorcery in Europe, and the other was a book on Egyptian medical practices and their ties to the arcane. Both texts were complicated, but Molly enjoyed Caleb talking about them.

A small part of him realized that Caleb could talk about almost anything and probably enthrall him. Gods he was an idiot. 

Eventually he realized their time was coming to a close, because Pumat always closed up at seven and it was leaning towards quarter of. 

“Well, I know I promised dinner, but we did get a little side-tracked.” He chuckled and looked at the pile of books that Caleb had next to him, and their drained coffee cups.  
“I’m not actually that hungry; I had quite a large lunch.” Caleb seemed honest in his answer, and Molly nodded. He’d had his croissant, and he knew Yasha would probably be making something at home he could munch on. Slowly an idea occurred to him, and he grinned and put a gentle hand on Caleb’s shoulder, careful to place it on top and not near where he knew the tattoo was healing. 

“Well, how about we head back to the shop so I can take you to a really awesome place I know. Just for a late snack?” Caleb seemed to consider his words for a second and he checked his watch as he considered.

“Nott is expecting me around eight-thirty. Will it take longer than that?” Molly shook his head no and stood. He offered his hand, and Caleb took it gently to help him stand up. They both felt the ache that came from sitting in the same spot for several hours, but a bit of stretching and they were ready to head out. 

They both waved to Pumat Sol as they left the shop and wandered out onto the boardwalk once again. The ocean breeze was chilly but nice in the air, and Molly lived for the moments that their shoulders brushed as they walked to Caleb’s car. 

“Which tattoo was your first?” Caleb spoke up against the breeze and crowds and Molly pursed his lips in deep thought. 

“Well that’s actually a tricky question.” He didn’t yet feeling like elaborating on the things that were a part of him before he was actually him. Molly was comfortable with Caleb; he had even shown him that tattoo that marked the date he came to consciousness in a hospital with no memories of who he had been. However, there was more than just a date. He’d had the word ‘Lucien’ tattooed down his arm, and there were red eyes up his neck and down that same arm near the elbow and wrist. Technically, those were the first, but he didn’t like them. They weren’t _his tattoos._

In fact, he’d gotten interested in tattoos and become a tattoo artist after he got the work done on the sleeve to cover up the name he didn’t remember or want to think about. He had natural talent for the art, and apparently he had dabbled in it before because it came right back to him. The entire discovery of tattooing had been cathartic for him, healing in a way that not even therapy had been.

Figuring he had left the silence lingering long enough, he cleared his throat and cracked a fake grin. If Caleb noticed, he didn’t mention it. 

“Oh it’s been quite awhile, but I think the Moon and Sun on my back.” He smirked. “ You haven’t seen them yet, but they’re beautiful and I’ve had them as long as I can remember.” Ha, that was such a joke. As long as he could remember two years ago. 

“Hm. I assume there is a lot of art that I have not seen yet?” Caleb gestured up and down Molly’s torso, and he took the flirty invitation with a wicked grin. 

“Of course, darling. I’ve got ink from my face all the way to my feet and piercings to match.” He noticed Caleb’s sharp inhale but said nothing on the matter. Instead he set about rolling up both sleeves to show off his arms a little more as they walked along. 

“The snake was after the Sun and Moon, and the floral poppy design was added in after the snake was put together, because I wanted to cover the whole arm with color. These over here, are constellations that connect across the night sky. See? you can just make out Scorpio right there.” He traced the star pattern on his arm in the gentle curve that ended in the forked tail with his clawed fingertips for Caleb to see. He had several constellations, with matching star chart imagery on that arm going all the way up to blend over the moon tattoo on the same shoulder blade. He liked to think of himself as a canvas that was constantly displaying beautiful artwork, from himself and from others. He briefly wondered if he should tell Caleb about the tattoos he had on his ass, but decided that maybe he could save that for later. After all, the reaction was much better when he got see it up close and personal. 

Caleb reached out and traced the constellation pattern with a brush of his fingers, and Molly savored the touchof his delicate fingertips. He smiled softly at Caleb, and when the smallest smile was returned, his heart melted. 

The car ride was filled with the gentle sound of classical music that Caleb had put on over the stereo system, and Molly made small talk about new tattoo designs he had coming up soon. He was doing a dragon piece for a new client and they had a consultation coming up soon. Gustav had been begging him to design a piece for him for ages; only problem was the man wouldn’t settle on one god damned idea. As soon as Molly thought he had a piece nailed down, he would want to add something MORE. It was honestly a clusterfuck, but so was the entire pier carnival, so he should have expected it. 

They pulled up to the shop as the sky started to streak with pale pinks and burning reds from the sunset. Molly directed Caleb where to park, and he jerked his head to the door to signal him to get out of the car. Caleb fumbled with the seatbelt a little, and it was truly endearing because it showed that he had no idea what was happening. 

Molly glanced at the shop and there were still lights on inside. He could just make out Yasha’s hair in the corner area with what looked like a tan hand tangled in it. He smirked and averted his gaze like a good friend; secretly he hoped they were having a good night, maybe just as good as he was. 

He wished he had a hand tangled in HIS hair, but alas he was being very good and very patient because something told him this was worth it. 

One look at Caleb’s curious expression confirmed it with a warmth in his gut. 

“What are we doing?” Caleb asked him, and Molly just grinned as he headed over toward the motorcycle that was parked a few spaces over from the car. It was an iridescent purple, with highlights in green and blue. It was a sport bike, with low handlebars and an engine that could clearly burn rubber if he wanted to. He loved her.

“Well, I figured I should introduce you to Penelope.” Caleb looked concerned for about two seconds before Molly straddled the bike and leaned against the handlebars with an adoring sigh. “My one true irreplaceable love.”

Caleb rolled his eyes and wandered closer, curious.

“So this is _your_ bike?” 

“Yes, Penelope is her name. Isn’t she gorgeous?” Molly preened under the attention his bike was getting. They matched, and he knew and loved it.

“Well she’s certainly pretty, but I like her rider more.” His head snapped over to look at Caleb with his mouth slightly open at the blatant compliment. Caleb was looking at the bike, avoiding eye contact at all costs, and Molly was truly preening now. A happy noise left his throat and he reached up to rub at the back of his neck. Shit, he might have even been blushing a little. 

“Hah. Thank you dear.” He cleared his throat and quirked an eyebrow at Caleb as he rounded the other side of the bike. “So, what do you say? Want to go for a ride?”

________________________________________________

Caleb had never ridden a motorcycle before, and it was clear to him that this was the remaining plan for their date. Honestly, the bike was so fitting it was almost hilarious, and he couldn’t deny that he wanted to know what it was like. 

In the past, he would never have stepped foot near a motorcycle, but… he also wasn’t that Caleb anymore. The date on his arm proved that he was moving forward now, doing new things and experiencing the world differently. This was his second chance; a second life, and he was oh so curious. 

“Yeah. I do.” Saying it out loud made something exciting tingle under his skin, drawl into the deepest parts of his heart, and settle there. He allowed himself this warmth, and he embraced the nerves even though his pulse quickened and his palms got a little clammy. He wanted this, and he was allowed to want things. His therapist had made him make several lists about things he wanted, and then he’d learned how to ask for them. She would be proud. 

Molly grinned practically from ear to ear and motioned him with his head. He started the bike up with a ravenous purr, and Caleb did his best to not be terribly awkward as he swung his leg over the back of the bike. He was nervous about being this close because he was not good with proximity, but he had liked when they had been sitting shoulder to shoulder earlier. Was this not similar? 

“Are you okay with holding on to me? Around my waist?” Mollymauk, bless his heart was already making sure he was comfortable. First with the tattoo and now with the date; yeah he was flashy but he was so kind Caleb almost thought he didn’t deserve it. 

“I think it will be fine.” He shifted to scoot a little closer on the seat towards Mollymauk. The man in question slid his rather ornate helmet onto his own head, and then leaned backwards with an apology about the proximity to fish through the lower side pack that he had. He procured a sleek black helmet, and he handed it to Caleb with a grin through the open visor of his own pink, purple and blue peacock feather-patterned helmet.

“Safety first darling.” Caleb smiled softly and slid the helmet over his hair. It was a bit tight slipping it on, like his head was being compressed, but once he had the neck piece on it was comforting. A secure kind of heavy and firm around his head. He buckled the chin strap, and lifted the visor so he could hear what Mollymauk was saying.

Everything in him buzzed with life and anticipation. He was terrified but also excited, so he leaned forward to wrap his arms around Mollymauk’s waist, and Molly was warm. There was a gap in his leather jacket where it was just the thin button down shirt in between Caleb’s hand and Molly’s stomach, and he could feel the heat. It was nice and tempting.

He was startled by his strong desire to touch that skin bare, but he pushed temptation down and took a deep breath instead to calm his nerves. He knew he was probably stiff as a board, but Molly didn’t comment. 

“Alright. Don’t be afraid to hold on tight. We’re not going far, so don’t worry.” Molly gave him one last dazzling smile over his shoulder before he slapped his visor down and revved the engine of the beautiful bike underneath them. 

It was a bit uncomfortable to be crouched near the back end of the bike, but he held still as Molly walked the bike out of the space and then put it into gear. It was a shift with his foot and movement with his wrists that was lost on Caleb, but then they were moving forward and it was thrilling. 

The wind started to pull at them as they glided out of the parking lot, and Caleb felt elated. 

He belatedly remembered to throw down his visor and he could barely hear Mollymauk laughing from in front of him. He more felt it vibrate through his chest than anything else, and it was a good feeling to be pressed against. 

They turned onto the highway and- Wow. Molly gave it a little more gas, and they headed off down the winding curves of the long and open road with the beach to their right. The ocean was alive with glittering gold and silver as the sun set right over it. Each peaking wave was a dazzling shimmer of light, and it was breathtaking. 

The wind whipped at their clothes, and Caleb felt and inexplicable need to laugh bubble up in his chest. He wanted to laugh and yell, and he felt like a teenager again. While he repressed his desire to shout like a silly person, he held tighter to Molly and leaned their helmets together. 

He liked this. Waking up today he had been a nervous wreck thinking about this date, but it had been nothing but wonderful. Caleb felt like his cheeks were sore from how much he smiled, and his heart was so full of life.

He really liked Mollymauk. 

This man was single handedly giving him something he didn’t know he was ready to accept, and he still wasn’t sure about anything except that he was content. Caleb was happy to stay in that moment, pressed against Molly’s back like he belonged there. As long as these were the feelings he held for him, he would pursue this; whatever this was. 

The ride came to an end at a beach parking lot. Most beach goers were already heading home for the day, but they had apparently come for the fresh waffle cones and ice cream. It was good; he didn’t get anything fancier than cookie dough but it was nostalgic. Mollymauk of course got cotton candy, and if that wasn’t the most fitting part of their evening, then it was probably the bike. 

They watched the sunset with their toes buried in the sand, and Caleb liked watching the last rays of light slowly dip below the never ending waves. The ocean at night was a favorite of his, and the moon was bright tonight which made everything even prettier. 

The ride home was just as enjoyable as the ride out, but he could feel tiredness creeping in after his long day of worrying and actually going out and doing things. He could feel his introverted tendencies rearing their tired and overwhelmed heads, and while he was enjoying himself he was grateful to be heading home. The tattoo shop came into view and he tightened his hold onto the man in front of him. This he would miss. 

It was with startling clarity that he realized he wanted to feel this at home. He wanted to be pressed up against this back in his bed, cuddling at night. 

Those were complicated thoughts, so he shoved them aside as Molly pulled into the parking lot and turned off the bike. He would deal with them later, because he now hoped that there would definitely be a later.  
____________________________________

Molly pulled into the space at the Tattoo shop, and he saw that Yasha was locking the front door and the lights were dark in the windows. He pulled off his helmet and hooked it on the handlebars, loving the warmth that Caleb's secure grip on his waist still provided. Reluctantly, he balanced the bike with two feet and felt Caleb slide away and off the back of the bike. He kicked the stand down and slid off himself, only to lean back against it and level a grin at Caleb as he removed the sleek black helmet Molly had given him to wear. 

"So, what did you think? Good night? Bad night? Best night of your life?" He would never admit it, but Molly's heart was jammed in his throat, filled with too much hope. Caleb was flushed from the ride, but a small smile threatened his lips as he looked at the seat of the bike and ran his hand along the leather. 

"Ja. A very good night." he paused for a moment and his eyes shyly met Molly's, and gods if his heart didn't completely melt at that. "I would like to do it again some time." 

Molly had to stop himself from jumping into the air as warm energy radiated inside of him with Caleb's every word. He liked him! He liked him and wanted to go on a second date! He tried not to think about the somersault his entire rib cage did. Heat flared to life under his cheekbones and he coughed into his hand. 

"Excellent. I really enjoyed it." The night air around them was chilly, and he would have been cold if Caleb's words hadn't lit such a fire under his skin. As they spoke, Yasha approached and without warning tossed the keys to Molly. He caught them easily after they bounced off the side of his head and gave her an amused look. Why in the world she was interrupting the end of his nearly perfect date he couldn't understand, but he trusted her. Her gaze shifted from Molly to Caleb. 

"So. Did he "accidentally" swing by his apartment instead of yours?"

Caleb spluttered and stammered, at a loss for words. God damn it, she would not cut him some slack with this one would she. He gets feelings for one person, and she teases him to the end of the earth. Molly supposed that he deserved this for all the shit he had been giving her about Beauregard for months. 

"I-I don't know what you mean, w-we did not go near....apartments." Caleb stuttered out a response, and Molly felt his cheeks prickle with more heat. He cleared his throat and gave Yasha a tired look. 

"Come on, I'm not that much of a slut. Yasha please, it was a really nice date, whose side are you even on here?"

She silently glanced between the two of them and pointed at Caleb. Molly blinked in pure shock.

"Wait...what? Wait." His mind was still processing when she turned and waved over her shoulder. 

"I'll see you tomorrow, Molly. Goodnight Caleb, drive safely." And with that she was gone, and Molly was left grasping at straws while Caleb buried his face in his hands and laughed breathlessly. Molly stared after her, his mouth gaping like a fish before he snapped it shut with and indignant noise. 

"You think she would be more grateful after I spent all that effort making sure that Beau got her tattoo from Yasha specifically. Ugh!" he threw his hands up and peeked at Caleb, who was laughing softly into the soft scarf around his neck. His only thought was how beautiful he looked under the moonlight with his cheeks tinted such a wonderful shade of pink. He wanted to kiss him, but again he felt that sharp hesitation in his gut. 

Not yet.

But, maybe very soon he could do that. Caleb cleared his throat loudly and Molly startled out of his thoughts. 

"Yes dear?"

"I just... ah. I'm going to head home now. I'll text you when i get there." Molly blinked at him and a large smile graced his features. He didn't want to say goodnight or goodbye, but he was comforted knowing that Caleb wanted to go on another date. He could live with the disappointment of saying goodnight, knowing it was not forever.

"Yeah. Drive safely okay? I will eagerly await your text." Caleb rolled his eyes at him and took a hesitant step into Molly's personal space. Molly tensed up just slightly, and his chest squeezed painfully as Caleb leaned forward and a pair of slightly chapped lips brushed his cheek. He stared in shock as Caleb pulled away and his eyelids fluttered back open. His blue eyes were soft with emotion and his face was red with embarrassment and Molly couldn't breathe because Caleb had just stolen all of his air with one kiss.

"Goodnight Mollymauk." 

With that Caleb walked to his car, got in, and drove off with a wave over his shoulder. Molly continued to stare at nothing until the chill in the air found its way under his leather jacket and danced across his skin like ice. He shivered and inhaled sharply as he came back into the present. He had been replaying the soft feeling of warm breath on his cheek over and over in his head. Silently, he lifted his fingers and pressed them gently into the soft skin below his sharp cheekbone. 

He was so smitten it wasn't even funny anymore.

"Holy fuck."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. As always comments and Kudos make my fucking day <3
> 
> Have a wonderful day!
> 
> -Cake


	3. Texts and Butterflies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously all of the comments I have received on this series is so inspiring and amazing I hope you continue to enjoy this story so much. Thank you for the feedback and love everyone truly. 
> 
> I have made a playlist of songs for this fic that both describe the ship but also just that i listen to while writing it. Check it out if you would like to.  
> https://open.spotify.com/user/126444356/playlist/3K9X5Prz6dkr6SHOSQk9ru?si=UDIXY5MbRqWyDMv70vvLjA
> 
> The songs Cardiac Arrest and Talk to Much were big Moods for this chapter
> 
> Enjoy! <3

Caleb was having a hard time at work.

Scratch that, he was having a hard time focusing at all because his thoughts kept returning to last week. To the wonderful and somewhat perfect date he had gone on. It had honestly exceeded his expectations and he had been struggling to think about anything else for a long time. 

Each time he leaned in to examine the faded Latin words on the magnified page in front of him he would catch himself picturing a flashy smile, or a vibrant splash of colorful ink against lavender skin. 

He thought a lot about the stunned expression that had graced Mollymauk’s face as he had leaned in to press his lips to his cheek. The slight stubble that he’d felt on that jaw as his lips brushed over that warm skin. He had felt the heat seep from Molly’s skin into his lips as Mollymauk had blushed darkly in the evening street light. 

To say he was intoxicated with thoughts of the other man was an understatement. His notebook held one full line of translated text out of the almost sixty lines that existed on this pricelessly old piece of history. There was even a doodle in the margin of a peacock feather. He groaned and leaned back in his chair. His glasses slid up his forehead as he craned his neck back as far as it would go with his eyes closed. 

For the hundredth time that day he brought a hand up to rest on his upper arm and squeezed the itchy skin where he knew his tattoo rested. It was healing wonderfully and he would like to think that so was his life. Maybe this thing he had going was more than just something fleeting. He hoped at least…

His phone clattered loudly upon his desk with vibration as a text alert went off. He stared at it, trying to think about who would text him in the afternoon while he was at work. It hit him at once that it was probably Mollymauk and he reached for the phone nervously. 

FlashyTattooMan: Hey hows work going for you? Bored w/o me? 

Caleb snorted at the message and he leaned back in his chair, swaying from side to side as it swiveled and he typed out a reply. 

Caleb: Work is good. I am just not very focused today. How is the tattoo shop?

FlashyTattooMan: Boooooorrring. Jk, mostly. We didn’t have too many appointments today but I did some piercings and a sm floral piece. 

FlashyTattooMan: Wanna see??? :D

He looked at the phone and glanced around the room but it was his personal work office and it was a Friday afternoon, nobody was here except for him. Besides he hadn’t really been getting any work done and his deadline on translating and transcribing this text was many weeks away. For the first time in a long time, Caleb let himself relax at his desk and do something fun other than work. 

Caleb: I do. I like seeing your work.

His thumb hovered over the send button for a few minutes before he worked up the courage to hit it. It was just a simple compliment, that was acceptable, right? It’s not like he was declaring his undying love for the man. I mean it wasn’t like he loved him either, right? He certainly liked him, but love was a ways off. Caleb did not feel ready for love yet. 

His phone vibrated several times and interrupted his quickly out of control thoughts. He opened the image first and saw a wonderful sunflower tattoo that was crawling up the back of a slender calf muscle. The colors were vibrant and there were threads of gold and purple around it. Caleb had realized after seeing some of Molly’s tattoo pieces that they had a tarot card quality to them, a magical essence to the style of work that he really liked.

**FlashyTattooMan:** Wht do you think??? Like it?

**Caleb:** It’s beautiful. I was admiring your style and thinking about how it reminded me of tarot cards.

**FlashyTattooMan:** !!!!!

Caleb wasn’t exactly sure what the exclamation points were supposed to mean but he didn’t have time to ask before he had three new picture messages in his inbox. He opened them each and grew wide-eyed as he was staring at a picture of someone’s very pale back where there was a tarot card in the middle in beautiful inked blues and gold tones. He quickly glanced at the other two images to see similar pictures of individuals backs, except one was blue and the other was purple. 

With a startling realization Caleb flushed dark red. The back of the lavender person was very clearly Mollymauk because he could just see the peacock feathers curling over the side of his neck and also the snake and floral piece down his arm. He could see the majority of the tattoos that spanned his back and he could also see something just barely peeking out of the low-slung waist band of his black jeans. A tattoo on the small of his back just above his tail.

Caleb did not want to think about the possibility that Molly might have a tramp stamp but he was staring and trying to make it out regardless. Unfortunately for the curious part of him Mollymauk’s tail was curled right over where it might be in the photo and was covering it. 

There was art all over the upper part of his back, the constellation piece he could see blending with the moon on his left shoulder blade; opposite the large sun piece on his right shoulder blade. In-between the two was a pyramid that had an eye in the middle and it was surrounded by the phases of the moon. Just below that is where the tarot card on him sat and leaning in he realized it had the tiniest words printed at the bottom of the card. _“The Fool”._ He looked back at the other two images to see which cards they had chosen as well. The one he assumed was on Yasha had the Death card and Jester, one of the workers and probably Mollymauks friend as well, had the High Priestess. 

He was still looking intently at the images and scrolling back towards the one of Molly when his phone vibrated again. 

**FlashyTattoMan:** I read tarot sometimes at the shop and I used to do it full time before the tattoo shop. I designed those cards and we all did one on each other because friendship :)!

Caleb found himself laughing at the smiley face at the end. He was pleased that Molly would share something like this with him because it certainly seemed important and even if Caleb himself did not believe that tarot readings were as accurate as everyone liked to believe, he could respect the craft well enough. 

**Caleb:** Those are amazing Mollymauk. Your other tattoos are very impressive too.

He wasn’t sure where these compliments were coming from but he felt good giving them and Molly hadn’t complained yet. Maybe he should stop, it could come across weird. Ugh this was hard. 

**FlashyTattooMan:** Thank you so much!!!!

**FlashyTattooMan:** I didnt expect you would lke them so much but im sooo glad you do

**Caleb:** Did not expect I would like them? What made you draw that conclusion?

**FlashyTattooMan:** Oh well sometimes I’m told I’m overwhelming and obnoxious also not really the kind of man that most normal people feel comfortable around. piercings and all that jazz

Caleb knew that people sometimes held stereotypes about people with many tattoos and piercings and what they were like and he guessed that the tiefling thing probably didn’t help; but he had never thought any of that. After all, with his past who was he to judge anyone based on their appearances or anything they had done before. I mean he HAD been to jail, he was the last person to assume anything about anyone else. In his personal life book everyone was already leagues ahead of him on being a good person. 

Gods but he had no idea how to word all of that to Mollymauk.

~~Caleb: I like them and… I like you~~

He erased the message and pinched his nose between his fingertips in thought. This was difficult because he wanted to say that but he didn’t want to tip the scales in his favor by making Mollymauk feel like he had to say it too. Or that he had to meet any expectations. Also… what if he didn’t say it back?

Caleb knew that thought was silly, because they had literally been on a date together not a week ago; but what if his feelings had changed? It would just make everything awkward. Caleb needed to reply soon, because at this point he had left Molly on read for about six minutes and he was getting anxious thinking about Mollymauk getting anxious. 

That was a wild thought, his therapist would love to hear that later. He was anxious about making someone else anxious. Wild. 

**Caleb:** You are unabashedly you Mollymauk and that is wonderful. I like it.

There perfect. ‘I like it’ was much better phrasing because it didn’t have all of the implications that ‘I like you’ did. That’s how context in text speech worked. Right?

**FlashyTattooMan:** honestly??? That’s one of the nicest things anyon has ever said THANK you Caleb :)  <3 

His heart was in his chest as he stared at the little heart at the end of that message. His brain short circuited and he had to set his phone down for a second and grin into the back of his hand. Honestly, he was an adult, he was in his thirties and here he was staring at his phone at his desk smiling like an idiot. 

A complete fool. Maybe he deserved that tarot card instead of Mollymauk.

Nott would have given him so much shit if she could see him right now. Molly was a rapid texter and his phone was already buzzing again where he set it on the desk. 

**FlashyTattooMan:** Hey so do you want to come by the tattoo shp this afternoon? I havent introduced you 2 the crew yet and theyre all hre today.

**FlashyTattooMan:** no pressrure of course only if you want to. ou can bring your FRIEND from the other day too, she seemed feisty. I like her

**FlashyTattooMan:** srry weird caps there lol

While he was concerned by the idea that there might be more people than just the two of them he did really want to see him. He felt like it had been longer than a week and their text conversations were great but when they had both been busy with work the conversations had been few and far between. If he could bring Nott, then maybe a large group of people wouldn’t be difficult to handle?

Caleb took a deep breath and searched himself for exactly what he wanted to do with his time. He didn’t have any plans for this afternoon besides the new novel he had picked up the other day, and if Nott was coming with him he would have a friend and an easy way out if he needed it. 

**Caleb:** That sounds nice I will stop by on my way home from work.

**FlashyTattooMan:** YAY! I’m so excited I cnt wait to c you! I gotta go another client just wlked in! see you lter

**FlashyTattooMan:** *later

Honestly the typos were incredibly endearing and he slid his phone back into his pocket and swiveled his chair back over to his work at hand. He found that while his thoughts still circled back to Mollymauk over and over again, he was able to get a bit more work done. Maybe it was the fact that he knew he was going to be able to see him soon. It soothed his mind and his heart a little, knowing they would meet again soon. 

 

Near the beach in the small tattoo shop with an iridescent motorcycle out front; a lavender tiefling was checking his phone for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day. 

Molly pouted because there were no new text messages but he knew that Caleb was supposed to get off work soon. He slid the phone back into his pocket and tried to get his mind off the whole ordeal. Truly he was in deep, and based on the pitying look Yasha had just sent his way he wasn’t the only one who realized it. 

To get his mind off things he sauntered over to Jester at her section of the shop and sat down dramatically in the chair. 

“So. Is ‘ _you know who_ ’ coming to hang out with us tonight?” He grinned cheekily at her because why not, when he didn’t want to deal with his own feelings it was so much better to tease someone else. 

Jester happily took the bait and grinned from where she was organizing the cabinet of different colored ink that she had. 

“Yes, he is! He’s even going to come down to the beach with us. Molly do you think it will be warm enough to swim this evening? Can you imagine what he looks like with his shirt off?” Molly chuckled at her statement and gave her a pointed look. 

“Jester you _know_ what he looks like with his shirt off. You’ve done most of his tattoos on his back and arms.” He sat up as she reached out to smack his leg in her excitement. 

“I know! But there’s something different about seeing the person you like shirtless at the beach! It’s just different.” He had to agree with her there, doing a tattoo on someone was work and you had to slightly separate yourself from any kind of attraction or things could get weird very easily. His mind easily supplied him with a mental image of Caleb shirtless at the beach and as nice as the image was he somehow struggled to picture it. Caleb seemed much more likely to be the type to never take his shirt off at the beach and wear it the entire time. It was an endearing revelation. 

“Molly you aren’t even listening anymore!” He blinked out of his trance and focused back on Jester who was now standing in front of him with her hands on her hips. 

“Um yes? No? Sorry what were you saying love?” She rolled her eyes and he knew he was in for trouble far before she opened her mouth. 

“Were you thinking about Caaaaaaleb again?” Jester poked him in the chest. “I know that you are already, so don’t lie I can see it on your face. That dreamy expression you get when you think about his cute face and the stubble on his jaw and the locks of hair flowing over his shoulders.” She sighed.

“Um have you been reading more erotic novels?” To be fair her description was accurate but it was that dreamy quality of her voice that made him realize she was not in fact describing Caleb.

“Yes! And the main character in this new one looks almost exactly like Caleb!” her hand flew to her cheeks as she gushed about the main character. “Except his sense of fashion is much better and he is not so tired looking!” Molly opened his mouth to protest but it died on his tongue as jester interrupted.

“But you didn’t deny that you were thinking of him!” her voice was singsong and she jumped to sit next to him precariously on the tattooing chair. They were not meant for two people but she did this often. 

“Yes I was, because you mentioned shirtless boys at the beach and I got distracted.” He hummed as his mind wandered just briefly again. 

“Oh, is he coming with us to the beach then?” Molly shook his head and then paused. He hadn’t mentioned the beach to Caleb, maybe he would come?

“Maybe? He’s stopping by but I didn’t invite him to the beach yet, I didn’t want to scare him off with too many people at once.” He had a feeling large groups of people weren’t really Caleb’s thing so he wasn’t going to pressure him in to going anywhere that even more people might be. That had been his reasoning on their first date and honestly that had gone better than originally expected. 

He’d even gotten a kiss on the cheek. Fuck he was blushing and smiling again. 

“YOU’RE DOING IT AGAIN!” Jester was shaking him and he waved from side to side with her strength, completely at her mercy. 

“Sorry sorry! He’s just really cute and I really like him!” He was released from her grip right as the door chimed, signaling the entrance of Caleb and his smaller friend from his first visit to the shop. Molly stared wide-eyed at Caleb as he wandered up to the counter and looked over to where he and Jester were sitting. 

He was only a little ashamed to admit that his tail started waving happily from side-to side much like a cat’s would at the sight of this wonderful man. He was wearing a cardigan sweater today in beige over a brown button-down shirt and he wasn’t wearing his huge coat. Molly was staring openly and it didn’t help that Caleb had trimmed his beard back a lot and it was close to his cheeks and jawline. Molly felt his teeth digging into his bottom lip as he thought about kissing and caressing that jaw. Fuck he was really queer. Especially for this man. 

“Caleb it’s so good to see you again! How is the new tattoo treating you?” Jester had hopped up from her seat and was moving with a bounce in her step over to him. He looked mildly taken aback by her approach but cleared his throat and pushed up the sleeve of his shirt. 

“I think it is doing good.” He said it in a quiet tone but Jester was already looking at the ink intently. 

Molly took that as his cue to saunter over. He was still a little star struck but he managed the walk over alright and leaned against the dividing wall of the shop right across from Caleb. 

“Why hello there, how are you?” He grinned and tried not to seem as absolutely smitten as he felt. Based on the small smile that quirked up Caleb’s lips, he was being fairly obvious. His tail swaying happily in the air was probably a dead giveaway. 

“Hallo Molly, did you get all of your work done?” He paused and looked down and Molly realized that there was a goblin glaring directly up at him from waist height next to Caleb. “Oh, Molly, Jester this is Nott. She is my closest friend.”

Nott narrowed her eyes at Molly and he grinned and stuck his hand out towards her. 

“Pleasure to meet you! You were here when he got his tattoo right?” She grabbed his hand and with a crushing force held on and shook it firmly. Molly grit his teeth as he realized exactly what was going on and pretended it didn’t hurt at all. She was the best friend and she clearly did not approve. His crushed hand was her means of letting him know.

“Nice to meet you, Mollymauk.” They stared at one another for an awkward amount of time until she released his hand and he gingerly brought it behind the wall and out of sight, where he could rub at it to alleviate some of the pain. Jester was oblivious and Caleb gave him an apologetic look that made everything worthwhile. 

“Nott you are so unbelievably cute! I love your sweatshirt!” Jester had opened the dividing door and was in the lobby area now. Unlike her reaction to Molly, Nott was wary but amiable with Jester and they launched into a conversation about baggy sweatshirts.

Molly’s gaze returned to Caleb, as it normally did, and he watched as Caleb took interest in Jester and Nott’s conversation. Taking a chance, he reached out and gently traced a finger down the back of Caleb’s hand just to have some kind of contact. Caleb jumped just a bit where he stood and his gaze immediately pierced Mollmauk where he stood for a moment until he relaxed. It was a start. 

“I’m glad you brought her along, the more the merrier.” His voice was low, keeping the conversation between them and Caleb shifted on his feet to lean against the wall and bring them closer together. A warmth spread through Molly at the simple gesture. Proximity was good and he wanted to be as close as possible. He forced down the rumbling in his chest that wanted to rise in pleased waves.

His finger continued to trace absent patterns on the back of Caleb’s hand until that hand flipped over and caught his fingers in his own and, oh. Oh. That was nice. Caleb had matched their fingers up and laced them together on top of the dividing wall and the warmth grew into a fire inside of him. One he never wanted to go out. 

“Yes, she was interested to meet you formally and uh, well all of your friends I assume?” Caleb looked around the store seeing that it was only Molly and Jester and molly chuckled. Neither of them mentioned their hands or the dark flush painting both their cheeks.

“They’re on the way. Yasha went to go pick up Beauregard, I don’t think you’ve met her yet and Jester’s friend Fjord is going to stop by as well. He was the one she was tattooing when you came in.” Caleb nodded seeming to try and remember faces and something else for a quick moment.

“By Beauregard do you mean a Beauregard with an undercut and a large tattoo of a tiger on her back. Punches things and is kind of an asshole?” Caleb was looking at him curiosity burning in him and Molly couldn’t stop the grin that cracked his face. 

“Kind of an asshole? More like definitely an asshole. Huge bitch, but I love her.” He paused and narrowed his eyes at Caleb. “Don’t you dare tell her I said that.” Caleb was laughing to himself but the squeeze he gave Molly’s hand was reassuring. 

“I won’t, but I am surprised we have a friend in common. How do you know Beauregard?” Molly groaned as the memories of his first meeting with that woman came to mind. He recounted the tale of how he had been opening the shop and in waltzed Beauregard who immediately demanded that he tell her the name of the woman who worked with him. They had started bickering back and forth until he demanded that either she stop pestering him or get a piercing or tattoo. Yasha had walking into the shop at the point and Beau had suddenly demanded that Molly pierce her ears and had dragged him to the back room, where she had proceeded to hide and have a gay meltdown about Yasha. To be fair, he had ended up giving her two new ear piercings that day.

He told the story with large flourishes of his hand and Caleb at least seemed entertained as did the rest of the group in the shop, because they were all staring at him now. 

“And that darling, is how I single handedly helped the most useless lesbian I have ever met hook up with the most awkward lesbian I have ever had the pleasure of being best friends with.” Molly hadn’t noticed the shop door open at the end of his story and suddenly there was a flash as someone hopped over the dividing wall and grappled him into a headlock. He went down hard, having been completely distracted by his retelling to Caleb. His hand absolutely wrenched from the other man’s grasp as he went to the ground. 

“I’m sorry did I hear you talking shit, Mollymauk Tealeaf??” Beauregard was a force to be reckoned with and she was damn fast. Molly grabbed at her hands as his tail thrashed and he was forced into a fight or flight situation. She had him pinned securely so he figured fight was better as he gasped out words. 

“Fuck you! I Was- Ack!” He couldn’t finish his sentence so instead he choked out a sentence in infernal and imbued his words with blood magic that made her eyes bleed and robbed her of her vision. 

“You smell like sweat and lesbian!!” Okay so not his best infernal insult but the content of the words didn’t really matter it was all about the magic laced with the words. Her indignant cry confirmed for him that it worked and he felt blood run down the side of his own neck and eyes.

Using this to his advantage he suddenly dropped his weight and twisted on the sole of one of his thigh high heeled boots to swipe his leg under her feet and twist out of her grasp. Beau was knocked prone with an audible shout and Molly was pouncing on her in an instant. Most would interpret it as an actual fight to the death except that Beauregard was grinning like a kid in a candy store and Molly’s tail was flicking happily back and forth like a cat pouncing on a toy mouse. 

 

Caleb did not know how to process the sudden fight in front of him and had stepped away from the counter in shock and mild concern as both of his friends, well friend and maybe boyfriend? Oh _Shiesse_ he shoved THAT thought way down, started bleeding from their eyes and tumbled to the ground. 

The only thing that comforted him was the familiar tail flicking he saw in Molly that seemed oddly Frumpkin-like and also Jester who was laughing wildly behind him. He turned to stare at her as she clutched at her sides. Nott looked just as concerned as he felt at least. 

“Should we stop them?” The goblin asked with mild trepidation and Jester shook her head.

“Nahh they’re fine. Do you know what Molly even said?” She dissolved into giggles again and although Caleb was versed in many languages Infernal was not one of them. His words had certainly sounded fierce and intimidating, but now he wondered if that was so true considering Jesters giggles. 

Caleb was mildly impressed with the magical potential that Molly had shown. Caleb himself was well versed in magic and used it for many things in his works, including translations and preservation of texts but he was not really one for fighting with it. Especially after…the accident. His consciousness pulled away from the reminder and he forced his brain to focus back onto the situation at hand. 

The fighting had apparently escalated while he had been in his head because Molly was now face down on the floor of the shop with beau sitting on his back. In an impressive display of flexibility, he had his ankles hooked around her neck while she had one of his arms twisted behind his back and   
her other hand on his left horn. They were equally in pain and yet not relenting for the other party.   
“Get your feet-! Off my throat!” Beau choked out her words through gritted teeth as Molly slammed his free hand down on the floor repeatedly. 

“OW ow owow! MY HORN BEAU ! That’s attached to my skull!” His back was arching with his feet trying to keep hold of her throat and honestly if he hadn’t been concerned for both of their safety he might have been a little interested in the flexibility Molly was showing. 

A deep voice with a drawn out sound rumbled form behind him and Caleb swiveled around to see a tall but slim half orc step into the shop. 

“Beau, Molly; knock it off. There’s no point in fightin’ right before we all go out for fun.” Caleb stared at him and his brain quickly connected the shipwrecked Kracken half sleeve tattoo to the name Molly had said earlier. This must be Fjord. 

Weirdly enough the two on the ground stopped struggling and looked up at where Fjord had come from. They scrambled to their feet together. 

“Fjord he was talking shit again!”

“She tackled me over my own counter, she started it!” They both shouted at the same time and Fjord had already put his hands up expecting it. Caleb ducked his head behind the scarf he was wearing to hide his smile because he had never met two people more like siblings in his entire life. It was hilarious if not slightly alarming at first. Fjord seemed annoyed more than anything. 

“I’m not your fuckin’ dad, stop acting like I’m going to sort you two out.” They both opened their mouths to protest but Yasha, who had apparently snuck in behind Beauregard and Caleb had failed to notice completely in her silence, spoke up. 

“Beauregard you did tackle him over the counter.” She spluttered and thought about it before seeming to deflate underneath her girlfriend’s calm stare. 

“Ahh fuck. Alright I did but he was talking shit, to one of my friends! Who I didn’t even know you knew?” Her gaze swiveled over to Caleb who was still trying and failing to hide his grin. “When the heck did you two meet?” She was looking between them like they had a dirty secret they were hiding. 

Molly pushed open the dividing door and moved like flowing silk over to stand right next to Caleb. He had wiped the blood from underneath his eyes thank god because honestly that was a terrifying sight. Mollymauk leaned his forearm on Caleb’s shoulder and rested his head on the folded arm comfortably. Their hips were touching and Caleb felt the increase in his heart rate that he knew had completely to do with the tiefling being close to him and not the anxiety of physical contact. 

“About a week and a half ago. He came in for a tattoo and well, I guess it was just fate that we would be fast friends.” He was grinning something sly and knowing, but there was an awkward Irish lilt to the way that he said friends and Caleb felt a pang in his chest. Friends. Right not boyfriends, well they hadn’t even talked about that. Caleb chided his eager heart for being so rash, they had only known each other a short time and been on one single date. He was getting too hopeful. Very unlike him indeed. 

“Uh huh, friends.” Beau looked unconvinced but she let it drop as she fixed her slightly wrecked outfit from the fighting and wiped the blood from under her own eyes. 

“I can’t believe you blinded me, that’s low.” Molly chuckled and Caleb felt the air move as he assumed his tail swished behind him. 

“All is fair in love and war darling.” Beau stuck her tongue out and he returned it with the middle finger.

“You are both incredibly childish.” The words left his mouth before he could stop them and Caleb shrunk as both of their gazes pinned him in place. 

“We are not!!” They shouted in unison and after a tense second everyone in the shop burst intp laughter at their harmonious expense. 

“Oh, sure you’re not, that’s like trying to say that Fjord isn’t dashingly handsome.” Jester chimed in and Caleb watched as she spun over to stand next to him with a shit eating grin. Fjord just smiled charmingly back at her.

“Why thank you Jester, that’s sweet of you.” Caleb felt something tug on the bottom of his shirt and he looked down to see Nott on the side of him that Mollymauk was not currently leaning against. She was looking up at him and while the group talked in the distance he leaned down as much as he could without disturbing Mollymauk to listen to her. 

“Do we trust these people Caleb? I mean we know Beauregard but what about the others?” She seemed worried but underneath it he felt that she was checking in to make sure he was okay. This group was certainly hectic, that was for certain but looking around the room he realized that between Jester and Beauregard chatting and Fjord occasionally chiming in, there was a sense of comfort. 

No one had questioned their addition to the group, nobody had mentioned the fact that Nott was a goblin and they hadn’t been asking pointed questions at all. They were all bright smiles and friendly jests and teasing. He found that he quite liked it and whether out of confirmation or coincidence the tattoo on his shoulder started to itch. It was more of a pleasant tingle than a full on annoying itch and as his tattoo healed he felt that maybe this was part of him healing too. The tail he felt gently wrap around his waist sure felt a lot like comfort and healing to him. 

Caleb smiled his small soft smile and reached out to gently ruffle Nott’s hair in the affectionate way he knew she pretended to only tolerate but actually quite liked. 

“I think we do Nott. I trust Beauregard don’t you?” Nott looked over to the woman as she settled next to Yasha against the counter while Jester had launched into a description of how she had to chase down the mailman that morning to see if he had delivered her recently sent letters to her long-distance friend correctly. The poor mailman, Chent, had apparently been hailed down by her multiple times now. 

Seemingly satisfied with the group she gave a pointed look at the tail wrapped around Caleb’s hips and her yellow eyes trained onto him pointedly. 

“Are you happy Caleb?” He looked at the tail as well and glanced over at Molly who was of course smiling and laughing at Jester’s story, fully immersed in her words. Caleb felt that little flutter in his heart again and he looked down at Nott. 

“I think I’m getting there Schatz.” She nodded resolutely and took his hand in hers. 

“I still think he’s too flashy.” She muttered it under her breath and Caleb couldn’t stop the soft laugh that escaped him. Molly’s head turned to stare at him and Caleb realized just how close their faces were when they were hip to hip like this. 

“I hope you’re not laughing at my expense Caleb.” Caleb felt himself flush and shook his head. 

“Quite the opposite, just enjoying how terrible this group appears to be.” It was a teasing jest and he hoped that in his accent and tone it didn’t come out as harsh as it sounded. Molly was smiling back and nodding so maybe he hadn’t messed up entirely. 

“Oh, absolutely we’re the worst. Actually, proper introductions are way overdue now that everyone is here! This is Caleb and Caleb’s friend Nott.” He spoke to the whole group and Caleb, awkward under the sudden attention from the group held up a hand and nodded.

“Hallo.” Nott just grunted in affirmation and took a swig from her flask.

Everyone murmured their respective greetings and Beauregard just shot both of them a thumbs up and promptly interrupted Molly as he was about to speak. 

“Caleb these are the group of assholes I hang out with that I told you about. Obviously you’ve met the worst one, that’s Mollymauk. Fjord is cool, Jester is the best but she’s only second to Yasha who is a literal goddess on this earth.” Yasha who seemed uncomfortable with the compliment blushed slightly and gave a very quiet hello. Caleb saw her elbow Beau with a look and he already knew that he liked Yasha. 

“Well now that introductions are out of the way. We have a beach to party on and a night to drink away! Let’s fucking go. That is if you want to join us Caleb.” Molly gave him a questioning look, clearly giving him an escape if he wanted but Caleb found that he quite wanted to go. He nodded in affirmation and the smile that Molly graced him with was so full of excitement it was overflowing.

Molly’s tail slid away from his waist as he stood up to his full height and went behind the counter to flick off the lights of the shop and grab a set of keys. Caleb also noticed that he grabbed a second black motorcycle helmet as he came back over. His purple leather jacket also made a reappearance. 

“Who is riding with whom?” Fjord, who Caleb was quickly realizing was probably the most planned out and organized of the group was looking between everyone as they headed to the door. 

“I call shot gun in the Thunderclap!” Beau shouted and Nott let out a noise from beside her.

“What the fuck is the Thunderclap?“ Yasha was laughing softly as she clicked a key in her hand and the lights on an open door silver four door jeep wrangler came into view. It was a monster of a car and Caleb felt his stomach clench at the thought of riding in a vehicle without doors. Some work had been down on it to make it even taller than normal and the tires were fucking huge.

“Yasha’s jeep, we call it the thunderclap because it’s a good fucking time. Also, she occasionally does those volunteer car crushing things at monster truck rallies and it’s wicked cool.” Beau went over and sung herself into the passenger’s seat and Nott looked at it both with trepidation and interest. She glanced back at him and Caleb nodded at her encouragingly. 

A gentle hand on his shoulder had him jumping slightly but he turned to see Molly looking at him hopefully with the extra sleek black helmet extended towards him. 

“You want to ride with me again?” Molly’s voice caught on the question and came out awkward and breathless, it was honestly cute. Caleb nodded before he had even realized that he wanted to but it was worth it to watch the awkward hope on his expression become complete happiness. 

“Yeah I would like that.” He took the helmet from him and they headed towards Penelope as the rest of the group either filed into Fjords truck or Yasha’s jeep. Neither of them noticed the look that Beau and Yasha shared with Nott, or Jester excited slapping against Fjord’s arm. She cooed softly at them when Caleb slid onto the bike behind Molly and wrapped his arms around his waist. They were too focused on each other and the slide of Caleb against Molly’s back.


	4. Sandcastles by Firelight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You are not ready for this. 10,000 words I wrote for you! ALL FOR YOU! All tooth rotting fluff and maybe a hint of angst. I have updated the tags for some things that might be triggering for people but I will summarize here. 
> 
> Past trauma  
> Car accidents  
> memory loss  
> Sand (looking at you Anakin Skywalker)
> 
> Please enjoy <3 And as always I appreciate the overwhelming response this fic has gotten i am so happy every time a single kudos or comment goes through. Thank you all so much I am trying to find the time to reply to every comment I have gotten but it might take me awhile <3 Enjoy!

Ink Ch4  
Sandcastles by Firelight

The humming of the bike became a purr as they pulled into the parking lot above the beach and Mollymauk slowed them to a gentle stop. Caleb was enjoying the warmth of the tieflings back pressed to his chest and his hands were slipped underneath the purple leather of his jacket. He risked the embarrassment and squeezed his arms tighter for just a second before he reluctantly slipped off the bike and stood to the side. 

Molly was something else in his purple jacket, vibrant helmet and shiny bike as he put the kickstand down and unsnapped the clasps that held his helmet together around his head and horns. It was a custom helmet just like the bike with pink and teal peacock feathers painted all over it. The helmet was designed like most tiefling helmets were, with a facemask for the visor that fit over the face and cradled the front of most horn shapes and then the back piece which functioned on a hinge at the top and came down in the back to sandwich the head and horns comfortably inside. Caleb had been thinking about the mechanics of it for the majority of the ride. His overly analytical brain had worked the design over several times just out of curiosity. It had also helped him keep his heartrate at a normal level and not racing every time Molly breathed and he felt it from their proximity. 

Upon removing his helmet, Mollymauk shook out his curling strands of hair and made sure that the bangs he always had hanging down in-between his horns were still perfect. Caleb was struck again by the ruby glint of his eyes in the setting sun. They burned almost like fire but not the kind that made Caleb recoil into his own mind. More like the kind of fire that kept away the winter chill during a snowstorm, huddled in a blanket with a cup of coffee and a good book. 

“Is my hair that messed up?” Caleb blinked out of his admiration and felt himself stiffen. The realization that he had been openly staring made his stomach curl in awkward embarrassment and his gaze dropped to the floor. 

“No, its good. Fine. I just ah… ah. _Ja is gut._ ” He trailed off and shoved his hands into the pockets of his khaki pants. Damn it, he was being stupid again. He glanced up to see that Molly was looking embarrassed himself and he was fumbling with the helmet in his hands a little as he tried to clasp it onto the handlebars. 

“T-thanks. I uh, you look great. Well in general…but also, right now. You know with the sun and all…The er lighting…?” Caleb stared in shock as the tiefling who was obnoxiously confident in most everything he did floundered for words in front of him. His cheeks were getting darker with each word and Caleb noticed a slight tremble to his hands with his perceptive gaze. 

“Fuck… I am just butchering this.” Molly coughed and pulled an awkward smile and Caleb felt the bubbling laugh in his chest wheeze out past his lips before he could stop it. His smile was contagious apparently because the tieflings face lit up as Caleb laughed. 

“You are doing just fine.” Caleb reached up to run his fingers through his hair for something to do with his fingers. There was something grounding about seeing Mollymauk struggle to be suave, even if it was only for that one moment. 

Yasha’s Jeep pulled into the space next to Molly’s bike and Caleb searched the backseat for Nott only to see her climb out with a huge grin on her face.

“That was fucking awesome!” Warmth seeped into his bones as he heard the joy in her voice and he thought for the briefest of seconds that maybe this was a good thing. Expanding their friend group to include these strange people seemed to be a good choice. He wanted to protect the smile that was gracing Nott’s face more than anything. 

His gaze slid over to the tiefling who had captured his attention as of late. Caleb watched the smile that showed off sharp canines as he started a race with Beauregard to the barricades of the parking lot that led to the steep slope of sand. Most people took the conveniently located stairs or the ramp to the beach sand but alas, the competition of vaulting over the barricade and making it to the water’s edge first was too much for the two to resist. Caleb was reminded of siblings.

“You’re going to lose! Lesbians always finish last!” Molly shouted the words out as he reached a hand out to shove Beauregard’s shoulder. She retaliated by tripping him with her foot and he went tumbling into the sand face first and out of view from where Caleb was standing. 

Caleb rolled his eyes and caught Yasha’s gaze. She looked equally as exasperated but the adoration in her gaze was unmistakable. She gave him a small smile and gestured towards the beach. Despite the lack of words, he understood her completely. 

“Ja, I got him.” Caleb trekked off towards the stairs that led down the steep incline to go see the damage Molly had done to himself. He barely knew this man and yet he already felt a strong desire to protect him from harm, even if maybe he deserved to get tripped a little bit. Sand in the face was punishment enough he mused.

As Caleb took the last step and landed in the soft sand each step became laborious. He gave in and slipped his shoes and socks off and held them carefully in one hand as he walked over to the purple man laying ass up in the sand a few feet away. He fought back a snicker at the precarious position he had landed himself in. Clearly he summersaulted at one point because his knees were deep in the sand and his arms were splayed out in front of him, having displaced a bit of sand to keep his face out of it. It was a sight worth seeing and just for the hell of it Caleb pulled his phone from his pocket and snapped a quick photo from behind. For science reasons of course, or maybe blackmail. 

Or maybe just because Molly’s ass was nice in the air like that, tail curled over his shoulder. Who knows.

“Need a hand?” He walked around him so that Molly could look up and see him and it was then that Caleb realized Molly was digging his arms further and further into the sand and kneading his claws into it. It was very similar to the way that Frumpkin did pushy paws into his chest when the cat would cuddle him before bed time. It sent a rush of affection through his chest. Molly paused in his motion and smiled awkwardly up at him and nodded.

“Yeah. I didn’t see her bloody foot before it was too late. “He pulled one arm out of the deep sand and Caleb grabbed him at his forearm to pull him out of the sand and to his feet. He didn’t let go right away even as they both became stable on their feet.

“She’s going to hold that over you for weeks.” Caleb looked over to where Beau had reached the edge of the water and was dancing with her middle fingers extended towards both of them. The groan from beside him was answer enough. 

“If we’re lucky; it could go on for years if she doesn’t forget about it.” The anguish in Molly’s voice was clear.

“You brought this upon yourself Mollymauk.” Caleb quirked one eyebrow at him, challenging him to disagree and he watched with amusement as Molly opened his mouth to reply and then snapped it shut. 

“Guilty as charged. Come on! I’ll show you our usual spot!” Without much warning Molly grabbed his hand and started pulling him down the sandy beach. The butterflies returned with a vengeance in his sternum as he felt warm fingers lace with his own. He found that staring at their linked hands made it worse so he looked at where Molly was taking him instead. 

A few feet ahead there were three large sun-bleached logs and several rocks piled in a ring around a pit dug deep into the slightly damp sand. It was with a sinking feeling of dread that he realized the ‘spot’ was around a fire pit. He struggled in the deepest breath he could manage and it came out strained. A warm candle or a fireplace in the winter was fine, anything encroaching on bonfire got to be a little bit much for him to handle.

He must have been squeezing too hard with his hand because Mollymauk slowed to a stop and looked at him, concern laced in his expression. 

“Caleb? Are you okay?” He started to nod his head mutely but his gaze flickered back to the fire pit in the quickly fading light of the sun and he bit down on the inside of his cheek. 

He was going to ruin everything right here and now. It had been so nice while it lasted, but hadn’t he always figured that it was too good to be true? 

“Caleb? Hey, come back to me.” Mollymauk was much closer when he refocused on the present and Caleb inhaled sharply as he realized the burning in his lungs was from his own failure to breathe rather than the thick smoke he had imagined clouding his lungs again. He exhaled shakily and sucked in another breath as he tried to focus on things that were real and in front of him, grounding him in the current situation. 

He wiggled his toes in the warm sand and scrunched them up repeatedly, digging until he hit the cool and slightly wet sand underneath the sun warmed layers. Caleb felt a warm hand on his cheek and he leaned into it and listened to the soft jingling sound of the jewelry in Mollymauk’s horns and ears. Each breath came easier as he reminded himself that he was in the beach not in his old home, that he was with good company and that everything was okay. 

“You’re doing good darling. Keep breathing you’re doing great.” Molly’s voice was soft and calm and the praise made him feel nice and warm as he came back to himself and reigned in the rush of anxiety. Mollymauk was very close to him, his right hand in Caleb’s left and his other hand gently cupping his cheek. His thumb was rubbing gently over his cheek bone and honestly it was very soothing. 

“Sorry… I’m okay.” Caleb cleared his throat as he took one more steadying breath. Gods he had been hoping he could spend a little bit more time with Molly before he went and did something stupid like freak out and ruin everything.

“There is no need to apologize Caleb. I just want you to be okay. Was it the fire pit or something else?” The embarrassment set in right about then and he felt the heat of shame bloom across his cheeks even through the reassurance. He nodded mutely and looked down at the sand as he tore into his bottom lip with his teeth. An unbridled anger towards himself fueled by years of self-hatred made his free hand curl into a tight fist against his thigh.

“I am okay, but I am sure I just made everything weird. I should go I’ve made you…uh, uh uncomfortable.” He moved to pull away from the gentle hand on his face and found that the grip around his hand tightened. His eyes flashed upwards to meet the endless red in front of him. Gods but Mollymauk was so very close to him and so very kind and Caleb did not deserve any of this. He would ruin it as he did most things.

“Caleb.” The way Molly said his name sent tingles down his spine. There was an undercurrent of seriousness and for once there was no playful lilt to his voice or snarky grin on his face. 

“Ja?” He breathed out the word and looked everywhere but at the smooth lavender cheeks bones and red eyes peering at him intently. The single syllable word was strained in his vocal chords and he hated that it betrayed him and revealed his true feelings.

“I am not uncomfortable at all. You have done absolutely nothing wrong. You have your triggers, and I have mine. You don’t have to tell me right now but I would like to listen to your story one day, when you’re ready. Right now, I think we could both use a cold beer. Does that sound okay to you?” Caleb stared up at him and unconsciously he reached his free hand up and held it over the spot that his new tattoo rested in. 

“I would like that…” He nodded as well to confirm his point completely and a gentle smile that rocked him to his core graced the face of the gorgeous man in front of him. 

“Excellent. Let’s go get you one.” Molly leaned forward and the gentle press of warm lips was fleeting but oh so sweet as a kiss was pressed to his forehead. It was accompanied by a gentle squeeze to the hand still being held and Molly released his face and gave him space. 

Caleb was simultaneously grateful for the breathing room and upset at the loss of contact. He was torn inside but settled for the pleased feeling that was Mollymauk’s hand in his still. He could work with that, it was a comfortable reassuring grip that reminded him Molly was still there, still interested. Maybe. 

But for how long?

He squashed that voice down as best he could, reminding himself of what his therapist had said a few weeks ago. Sometimes one’s brain tries to fight them. These were invisible tigers in the grass, they weren’t real and he did not need to fear them. 

Caleb pictured his anxiety and negative feelings as Frumpkin, a scared Frumpkin. Like how he got during the fourth of July when fireworks would explode all around them in loud bangs and booms. He would hold Frumpkin and tell him that everything was okay, because he had more perspective than Frumpkin did. He knew that they were not in danger. In that same way he adapted the perspective of knowing more than his anxiety. It was afraid of the invisible tiger in the grass. Caleb was not afraid of it because he knew it was a sham. 

These comforting thoughts brought him over to the edge of the pit in the sand where Jester had just set down the largest cooler filled to the brim with beers and drink and ice as if it was nothing. Caleb had to stare at her biceps for a moment and he could see the rippling muscle underneath the detailed lollipop tattoo on her right shoulder. Oh. She was almost as ripped as Yasha. 

Something about being in the presence of two women that could easily bench double his weight made him feel very small and squishy. If he was into women he was sure he would have felt butterflies for them too but he found his gaze sliding over to the lean muscle that rippled through the tattooed arms of one lavender tieflings as he bent over and reached into the cooler for two beers. 

Something else started to burn in his gut as Mollymauk’s shirt rode up a little bit above his lashing tail and Caleb saw just the edge of ink under the waistband of his brightly colored pants and what appeared to be red briefs. He smooshed it down forcefully. 

He was not ready for those kinds of thoughts yet. At least not in the company of other people. 

“Caleb do you want something sweet or do you want just a normal beer?” His attention snapped to the tieflings face as he remained bent over, rummaging in the cooler. Oh gods anything but shitty American beers. 

“I bet he wants something sweet and fruity!” Jester had grabbed herself a watermelon flavored hard lemonade and cracked the top off it with ease. He made a face and went to reply but Beauregard was already speaking for him. They were a loud and talkative bunch.

“Nahh he’s German. This man has standards for his beers.” Caleb made a face at being interrupted but she had gone drinking with him before and she wasn’t exactly wrong. He simply pointed to her in acknowledgment. 

“If you have anything decent, anything other than the one that tastes like watered down piss. Whatever shitty brand that one is.” Molly was laughing under his breath as he rummaged and eventually tossed a beverage to Beauregard who caught it without even looking up from her phone. The next one came flying at him and Caleb fumbled with the slick ice-cold beverage but managed to grip it enough that it didn't tumble into the sand.

“It’s not German but it’s a dark ale? Hopefully it suits your taste.” Caleb nodded and promptly did his best to crack open the beer without spilling it everywhere considering that it had been thrown and thus shaken. As he struggled Beau reached over with a beer opener she had on her keychain and popped it for him. He muttered a quick ‘danke’ and took a soothing sip of the cold beverage. It was decent.

Beverages were passed out to the entire group and Nott was contentedly sipping from her own flask, sitting on a towel next to Jester. Fjord eventually placed towels around the fire pit area for just about everyone and upon an insistent patting of the spot next to him Caleb settled next to Mollymauk with Nott only a foot away. He sat casually with his beer in hand as the sun finally gave in to the moon and the warm night settled in around them like a hug.

“So what bullshit should we burn tonight?” Caleb visibly stiffened at Beauregard’s words and upon glancing at him she quickly held up her hands. Fjord was hard at work on building the fire but he had paused to stare between them.

“Not literally Caleb, relax dude. This is like a thing we do, we talk about things that are either shitty or things we would rather not hear about again after this. So we say them around the campfire and let them burn away metaphorically or whatever.” Beau frowned and struggled for words for a moment. “It’s like, ugh it’s a thing we do that Jester started because she thought we all had too much pent up shit.” She was giving him a serious look and he appreciated her concern and her discretion as he had just met half of these people and, well…he wasn’t ready for Mollymauk to know that much.

“You do have too much pent up shit, but not anymore! Sometimes we tell stories too!” Jester chimed in from her perch on a towel and the bow on her tail fluttered in the soft sea breeze as it passed their group by. 

“Or we make wishes for the future.” Yasha always calm and soft chimed in as she sunk onto her own towel with a beer in hand on the other side of Mollymauk. Caleb took a deep breath and relaxed as he realized that they were not actually going to be burning anything, or…anyone. He shivered slightly and felt a warm hand settle on top of his on the towel. 

Molly was looking at him with concern and he shook his head. This was not a conversation he was ready to have.

“I’m fine. Danke.” The warm smile given in response did so many wonderful and terrifying things to his insides. It was not even remotely fair. 

“Well should we wait for the fire or start going around now anyway?” Molly looked to his friends with one inquisitive eyebrow raised. 

“If we wait for fire we might be here all night.” Nott’s sarcastic tone cut through the group and Fjord fumbled with his tinderbox and nearly dropped the whole thing in the sand as he became flustered. Caleb ducked his head into his scarf to hide his grin. Leave it to Nott to immediately find enough comfort to take jabs at these people with her words. 

“She’s kind of right Fjord.” Beauregard was snickering and Jester was laughing in a bright and happy laugh that cut through the night air. Nott seemed mildly embarrassed with her outburst, as if she hadn’t meant for it to come out like that or maybe even at all. 

“Sorry, I’m sorry! I just…uh…I mean. Fires are hard? Caleb usually does them. I can’t even light them.” All eyes turned to him and Caleb felt the prickle on the back of his neck that came with being the center of any kind of attention. Oh _sheisse._ Molly specifically was looking at him with a conflicting and downright unreadable expression. Caleb pointedly looked at his hands and not at anyone else as he tried to sort through his thoughts.

“I er… uh-uh-uh Ja? I Can do that if the group wants me to.” He was tugging at the sleeves of his shirt uncomfortably and decided to just go for it before anyone could pity him, or question it. Besides Mollymauk had used some kind of weird magic before, right? Magic wasn’t THAT uncommon. He snapped his fingers and the middle of the firepit combusted into a small ball of flame that quickly caught the edges of the paper and tinder that Fjord had stuffed in there. 

“Well I’ll be damned. He can do magic.” Fjord’s low whistle was nothing but impressed and Caleb flushed slightly under the gentle praises from the group. Beau just snorted in amusement having seen him actually do impressive magic before.

“Cayleb! You should have mentioned that you can do magic! I can too and so can Fjord! Molly can do… Well Molly does weird things, we’re not really sure how or why.” Caleb looked over at the tiefling next to him in confusion and Molly shrugged nonchalantly. 

“Don’t look at me, I have no idea how it works either.” His grin was cheeky but cute and Caleb reached out and pinched his cheek. 

“Is that why Beauregard’s eyes started bleeding mid fight, earlier?” He let the man’s cheek go once he started to complain and smiled softly into the mouth of his beer can. What an interesting group of people.

“Yeah! That fucker blinded me with his voodoo shit.” Beauregard called out from her spot in the sand across from them and Caleb saw Mollymauk’s tail flick, very cat like, in a frisky sort of way. 

“You deserved it and I would do it again in a heartbeat.” The snark in his voice rang true across the slowly growing fire. Caleb found that their banter distracted him from the fire pit and it did not bother him like he thought it might.

“Try me you purple disaster.”

Fjord luckily cleared his throat rather loudly before those two could get started going back and forth any more than they already had that day.

“Right so now that the er, fire is going how about we start with someone and go around clockwise. I think ladies should so first.” He motioned at Jester with a pointed look and she hurriedly picked up his hinting. 

“Right! I’ll start us off then unless somebody wants to volunteer?” The group was silent and she sighed dramatically but the smile on her lips betrayed it as an act of drama rather than actual exasperation. 

“Well today I would like to burn away the tattoo I had to do for that really creepy guy who wanted to get a girl’s name on him and I asked if she was his girlfriend and he said that no it was someone he was in love with though. Dear traveler please help whoever Chelsea is and save her from this asshole. May their paths never cross ever again and may I never have to tattoo another man like that please. Or at least not that man because fuck that guy.” Mollymauk laughed next to Caleb as Jester continued to talk about the man and how gross he smelled and that she was pretty sure that she saw other names on his body. 

Caleb noticed that the hand resting over his still hadn’t moved and he wanted to flip his own hand over but… would that be too obvious? Earlier he had laced their fingers together because it had felt right and it had only been Nott and Jester but this was, a lot more people. 

Beauregard was here too and she was a bit brutish but observant as hell and she had been known to go on curious questioning rampages. That was how they had become close in the first place, she had weaseled her way into his life and found out about his past in exchange for some rare texts he’d been dying to translate and read. He appreciated it now but he could easily see her latching onto anything she saw between him and Mollymauk and prying later. 

He looked over at the sharp features he found on Mollymauk’s face as they flickered in the glowing firelight. His red eyes burned deeply in the flickering light and Caleb found comfort in it and maybe a bit of confidence as well. They had been holding hands, earlier right? It would be okay. He told himself it would be okay. 

Caleb took a deep breath and flipped over his hand underneath Molly’s and laced their fingers together again. Wow, okay the warmth that rushed through him from that solid point of contact was stupid. He was a full-grown man and this was stupid. He felt like a child experiencing romance for the first time in his life. He hadn’t ever though that one person could make him feel this giddy ever, especially after his past. He had always assumed that love wasn’t meant for people like him, that his karma had run sour and he would spend the rest of his days with Frumpkin and Nott. 

Apparently, the part of him that could blush and hope and feel nervous excitement hadn’t died as thoroughly as he thought it had.

A shy glance to the side smacked him with the realization that Mollymauk was staring at their hands with wide-eyes and his cheeks were impossibly dark, noticeable even in the dim lighting with Caleb’s less than ideal vision standards. He looked stunned and embarrassed and just as nervous as Caleb and that was crazy to imagine. 

Red eyes travelled up their hands to meet his and Caleb looked away shyly as Mollymauk did the same. They were a fucking disaster. Caleb, adamant about looking anywhere but at their clasped hands met Nott’s gaze and oh gods that was almost worse. She was giving him _that_ look. The mom look. It was half embarrassment for him and half gentle encouragement. They shared a silent conversation of mild panic on his side and exasperation from hers before she shoved him in the shoulder which sent him tumbling into Mollymauk’s side. 

Oh he was going to kill her later. 

“Caleb? Are you okay?” He flushed bright red and shifted from where he had crashed into Molly’s side. Their hands had ended up in-between their thighs and with some adjusting he shifted to remain pressed against Molly’s side. 

“Ja, just getting away from the evil goblin next to me.” He shot her a glare over his shoulder and received a sharp kick in the butt in retaliation. Molly was blinking at the two of them in confusion until a grin curled over his mouth. 

“Was that sarcasm? I love it when you make terrible jokes.” Caleb snorted in amusement and sunk down a little against the warmth of the tiefling. His head rested against a slightly boney shoulder but the warmth against his cheek was worth it. 

“All my jokes are terrible.” He muttered it quietly but apparently it was loud enough to be overheard from the other side of the fire.

“Are you assholes even listening over there?” Beauregard had her elbows on her knees with her legs spread in the most un lady-like sitting position anyone could probably manage. Both men stiffened as they realized they had fallen into their own world and had completely missed whatever Fjord had been offering to the group as his story and they had already moved on to Beauregard.

“Er…uh yeah totally. What happened next Beau?” Molly jumped in but he was clearly flustered which apparently threw Beau and Jester for a loop. They looked genuinely shocked that he was floundering for words.

“Are you fucking blushing right now?” Beau leaned forward over the camp fire and if Caleb wanted to be an asshole he could have easily confirmed that yes, Mollymauk was blushing and it only got worse as she pointed it out. Caleb was also red in the face and drawing attention to Mollymauk meant drawing attention to his own embarrassment. No thank you.

“No of course not. I don’t feel embarrassment, I never have and I never will.” Molly’s tone was that of a petulant child as he replied.

“Bullshit!” Beau exclaimed in mild annoyance.

“You are so purple in the face right now Molly it is soo cute! What did Caleb say?” Jester was practically bouncing up and down on her towel in the sand in pure excitement and Caleb wanted to dissolve into water and become one with the ocean as the group focused on them. _Shiesse_ they should have just shut up and paid attention to the group. 

Mollymauk apparently had similar feelings because he was withering under the gazes of his friends before he threw up his free hand and flopped backwards into the sand. 

“Fuck! Leave me alone! Beauregard was talking about something she thinks is important. I’m sorry for interrupting.” Caleb was amazed that not only was the seemingly suave tattoo artist visibly flustered again, he was also trying to hide it and apparently it was uncharacteristic of him according to his friends. A small flicker of pride swelled inside of him that he could fluster someone seemingly impossibly charming to the point of hiding their face behind their own hand. Mollymauk must really like him. 

Those words hit him like a brick wall and before he could stop himself Caleb was full on smiling.

“Beauregard, you should continue.” Yasha spoke up, coming in clutch for her best friend and Mollymauk sent her an appreciative, but silent, thumbs up as he remained on his back with a hand over his face. His efforts to control his embarrassment were admirable. Caleb was content to let him figure it out because he hadn’t let go of his hand. Embarrassed sure, but not ashamed and that was comfort enough for him. 

He squeezed the hand in his grasp and tuned in to Beauregard’s story of a nightmare she’d had that week that hadn’t left her. It was about losing her limbs one at a time until she was confined to a single room useless and unable to do anything that she loved. It sounded like an awful nightmare and Caleb could sympathize with wanting to metaphorically burn it from her memory. He had many nightmares he would love to leave behind at this campfire and never revisit. Too bad that was impossible.

Yasha was next and she wrapped an arm around Beau’s shoulders to pull her girlfriend into her chest in a comforting gesture. She rubbed her arm and Beau smiled softly at the gesture and leaned into the larger woman. It was…cute. Something like that might have made him jealous before but now, he simply looked down at the hand in his grasp and felt a sense of familiarity. 

Molly sat up slowly, seemingly recovered from being flustered and settled back in against his side. Caleb glanced over at him and set his head back down on his shoulder. How could he be jealous when he was so content on his side of the campfire. 

“I have wishes for the future I would like the share. “. Yasha’s voice was steady and calm but there was that awkwardness ever present underneath it. Caleb listened intently but did not stare at her, he knew what it felt like to want to speak and get overwhelmed by gazes. 

“I am happy that we have added some new people to the group. I hope that for the future we get to see more of both of you, Nott and Caleb. Also, I hope that maybe we can go hiking together and I can show you all some of the places I have gone to recently.” Caleb glanced up as the group smiled around at each other. Molly in particular, sat up straighter and his tail whipped behind him excitedly. 

“You’re going to show us the places you’ve worked? Please take us to the mountain spring darling, we haven’t been there in so long.” Yasha looked at Molly and nodded silently. 

“Of course, that is on the list.” She smiled softly and Beauregard was excitedly grinning at Jester. There seemed to be some kind of importance with what Yasha did that the group was super excited about. Caleb was completely lost as he stared at their excited expressions. 

“I don’t get it, why are we so excited about hiking?” Nott chimed up after taking yet another swig from her flask. Caleb was very aware that she was probably going to be super drunk by the time they got home. 

“Oh, you guys don’t know. Yasha is a forester. Well she works with the fire department to try and prevent forest fires and does a lot of work all along California, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and even Washington and Oregon. She travels a lot and spends a lot of time off hiking just to scout out areas that might need fire prevention, but sometimes she finds the coolest fucking places to hike to.” Mollymauk chimed in, clearly proud of his friend in what she did. 

“I thought she worked at the tattoo shop?” Caleb looked up at Molly’s excited face and raised an eyebrow. She had clearly been working there when he’d gotten his ink done. 

“Oh she does!” Jester chimed up from across the way. Caleb noticed that her arm was slung around Fjords shoulders casually. “She works at the shop part time when she’s not getting called away to do forest surveillance! They can’t send her out all the time, especially when fire season is going because of hazards. They send her out on week to two-week long trips whenever they need her! She has a whole team sometimes! Its super cool.” Yasha seemed to be embarrassed by the praise. 

“I prefer to work alone, but yes, it can be cool to have teams.” Very opposite of Mollymauk she seemed to get smaller under the praise. Funny that they were best friends.

“Last trip she escorted us on she humbly took us to the most beautiful waterfall cavern I think I’ve ever seen. It was down right gorgeous.” Fjord nodded his head at Yasha in praise and she smiled back at him. 

Caleb felt the excitement from the group bleed into him and he found himself looking forward to the prospective trip as well. He realized belatedly that over the course of the few hours he had been with this group he had already started to consider himself a part of it. 

“That sounds like fun. I would enjoy seeing what you have found.” Caleb spoke up and the soft gaze Yasha sent his way, flickered to Mollymauk for a second before her heterochromatic eyes focused back on his. 

“Then I think my future wishes have been answered.” Caleb felt that she was referring to something else, as if she knew something that wasn’t shared with the group. His eyes narrowed but Yasha was already looking back at Beauregard and the feeling faded with it. Weird. What a cryptic sentence.

_____________________________________________________

Mollymauk was all kinds of mixed up inside when he met Yasha’s gaze as she spoke to Caleb and felt himself flush all over again. He knew that gaze and he knew what her wishes were truly about. They had talked about it earlier this week and he fought down embarrassment as he leaned more fully into Caleb and thought back on the conversation. 

_“Yasha you don’t understand he was so cute. He was sitting all curled up in the window of Pumat’s second floor window. His hair is like rose gold in the sunlight. No…even better. What’s batter than rose gold?” He floundered for the right words to describe how absolutely stunned he had been._

_“Copper?” Yasha supplied calmly as she continued to cook dinner for them both. It was their usual Tuesday night routine. They went to either of their houses, had dinner and drank together until they passed out on his bed together while watching shitty romcoms._

_“Copper is good but it doesn’t do him justice. He’s prettier than that.” Molly was draped over the kitchen counter from the living room side. He’d been kicked out of the kitchen for the night for being too enamored to focus on cooking. Yasha’s words not his. “Ugh Yash, he kissed my cheek and I just stood there.”_

_Yasha had rolled her eyes because, oh great they were back on this._

_“Mollymauk it’s okay to get flustered.” Molly’s head shot up from the counter as he pointed a finger at her from across the kitchen._

_“But I never get flustered! I can charm the pants off almost all of my tattoo clients!” Yasha gave him a look that was equal parts pity and adoration._

_“Yes, but how many of them do you really like? As much as you like Caleb, rose gold copper hair in the sunlight?” Mollymauk faltered and Yasha enjoyed the face journey he went on as his emotions crashed back down onto him. He slumped wholly onto the counter again with a sigh._

_“None of them…I’ve never felt like this about anyone before. He’s really great and I just want to give him the world.” He groaned loudly. “Yasha I don’t want to mess this up. I don’t think I’ll ever be the same if he decides he doesn’t like me anymore.”_

_Yasha had been silent for a while until Molly had looked up at her again, his eyes watering from the thought of Caleb leaving and never seeing him ever again._

_“Then I will wish for both of your happiness.” She had smiled at him like only someone who knows all the sides of your soul can and Molly felt better. They accidentally burned the lasagna that night anyway. Good friendships and great cooking are apparently not mutually exclusive._

Even just remembering the conversation had him feeling all sorts of things he wasn’t used to. This was new to him and the rapid pulse in his veins was more than he could handle. He liked it and wanted it to continue, but he also wanted to stop completely embarrassing himself in front of Caleb. It was so hard when the man sitting next to him was everything he hadn’t realized he wanted in one person. 

His skin underneath the warm firelight was gorgeous and the way his ears turned red, all cute with their rounded edges, did things to his chest that he was pretty sure were medically bad. 

The group continued around the circle but it was his turn after Yasha had gone so he inhaled deeply and decided that Yasha had wished for them, she had fulfilled her promise, so now it was his turn. Alright he could do this. He had promised to be brave for her and to fight for this just as much. Wishes only got you so far in this world. 

Mollymauk sat upright a little more but made sure not to let go of the hand in his grasp or push Caleb away from his side. A precarious balancing act indeed.

“Alright I’ll be honest I had a pretty great week I don’t have anything to burn but I guess I have some wishes for the future.” Jester was cooing at him from across the fire and he shot her a warning look, he was struggling enough as it was he didn’t need her making it complicated. Fjord gently clamped a hand over her mouth and Molly gave him the most appreciative look he could muster. He felt guilty for accidentally throwing up on the man three weeks prior. His hand tightened in Caleb’s as he took a deep breath. 

“I uh…um. Shit.” It was always hard for him to talk about his memory problems and this was no different except that Caleb was going to need context later. More than just wishing for something Mollymauk was extending an invitation to Caleb to ask about something he held very close to his chest. Something that only the people lucky enough to be invited to their bonfires knew about. That and the doctors. 

“I hope that I never forget tonight, and that I never forget what happened last Thursday afternoon.” He glanced at Caleb and saw the confusion and embarrassed shock that flittered across his face. He didn’t need to look at anyone else to know their reactions. They always had the same expressions of acceptance and sympathy when he made wishes about remembering things. He pressed on. 

“It’s been a damn good week. Yasha’s been back and I…uh. I’ve been really enjoying the company of someone new.” Gods he was an obvious sap and he hated himself for the fact that none of his usually witty words were coming to mind at all. 

“My final wish is that this person maybe will want to keep coming by and hang out with us, well me specifically again…err. Yeah. That’s about it.” Holy motherload of awkward phrases he would like to die now. Molly grabbed his beer and chugged the rest of it before he crushed the can in his hands. 

“Wow, you’re a disaster.” He chucked the can at Beauregard’s head without any remorse and watched her swat it away. 

“You’re no better, trashcan.” She didn’t validate him with a response and Molly just fell deeper into himself as he worried at his bottom lip with his sharp teeth. He was too nervous to look at Caleb and part of him wondered if the hand in his grasp was going to be ripped away soon. 

“Ja I believe it is my turn now. Um.” Caleb was speaking next to him, seemingly ignoring the vomit of awful words that had spilled from Molly’s mouth. His tail drooped behind him, almost digging the spade tip into the sand in an attempt to hide. If he wasn’t so damn afraid of being buried alive he would have done just that to his own head.

“I guess I have something to burn in that I hope it is well and done with and I can move on to uh…better things. I was…Hm how to say it. I have not had companions other than Nott for many years, because I was out of commission for a while. However, I have been getting better and I would like to never be where I was five years ago ever again. I am glad it is well behind me and I am glad that there are new faces in my life.” Molly’s heart stuttered as the hand in his squeezed tightly around his own and he finally looked over at Caleb. He knew his own ears were a dark reddish purple but seeing that Caleb was equally as red in the face flustered him even more. 

Blue eyes glanced up at his before moving away shyly and Molly felt himself smile like the lovestruck idiot he was. His tail stopped trying to bury itself and instead swayed happily settled behind him, just the tip occasionally slapping against the towel. 

“That is…was that enough? I don’t know how this works.” The group laughed softly and Mollymauk hated the looks of happiness that Jester and Fjord and even Beauregard were giving them. Fuck he knew it was a bad idea to invite Caleb to the bonfires, especially with these assholes. He didn’t know how to deal with everyone being so god damn happy for him. Now he felt like he had to please them AND Caleb. 

“Holy shit I cannot handle any more secondhand embarrassment from you two.” Nott’s voice rang out loudly and she stood up, swaying slightly on her feet, before taking another swig of her drink. “Alright you pansys, buckle up because I have some shit to burn about this FUCKER who tried to come into my job last week.” Nott launched into a hilarious and frankly loud story about her experiences that she wished to never speak of again after this night. 

Maybe it was her drunken rambling or vivid retelling but they were all laughing loudly soon enough and the stories from there continued to grow in ridiculousness as each person took another turn. Eventually they were all some form of tipsy, Nott was seemingly drunk off her ass. Beauregard was leaning heavily on Yasha when Jester jumped to her feet and suggested that they all build the biggest best sand castle ever. Molly was pleasantly warm and he couldn’t decide if it was because he was tipsy or just happily pressed up next to Caleb.

Nott was immediately on board with Beau and Jester and the three of them bounded off into the sand to start pushing out different pieces. Nott was adamantly digging a moat around the other two girls, saying they needed to be protected from all sorts of things. It was beautiful drunken chaos. 

Molly was content to watch silently when he felt lips near his ear and a heavily accented German voice whispered in his ear and sent electric sparks down his spine. 

“Will you come walk along the beach with me Mr. Mollymauk?” His grin was quick and softened by the dying firelight as he nodded. 

“Yeah, lead the way.” They stood and dusted off their clothes from the inevitable migration of sand all over everything and Caleb took his hand once more. Softly, in a way that had Mollymauk’s heart beating all the way in his throat. He led him towards the water and once they were at the edge of it they both silently walked right at the edge of the waves under the moonlight hand in hand. 

It was a comfortable silence but they could both feel things unsaid between them. Molly felt the bubbling pressure of needing to speak climbing up his throat. He was not good with long silences or a lack of talking but he didn’t want to ruin this moment. Thousands of phrases and cheesy conversation starters passed through his head. They all felt lackluster.

“Do you forget things a lot?” Caleb broke the silence with a whispered question and Molly stopped walking as a wave of trepidation crashed over him. Oh, so they were doing this now. He took a deep breath and turned to face Caleb. They both shivered as a runaway wave crashed over their bare feet with freezing cold water.

“Not anymore. I did once.” He reached out with shaking fingers and Caleb met him with his other hand halfway. “I uh… had an accident. Car accident. I don’t remember it but they say I was in the passenger side of a car with a friend and we got T-boned on the driver’s side in a large intersection. I woke up in the hospital with no idea who or where I was and…I was alone.” He swallowed thickly and closed his eyes. He didn’t need to clarify what happened to the driver, he could tell Caleb understood. It was hard talking about it, he did not like remembering anything about the accident or the sheer amount of time it took him to recover from it. Caleb was silent in front of him but his thumbs brushed comforting circles over the backs of his hands. 

“It took almost half a year for me to stop getting severe migraines and forgetting little things that happened every week. I uh… I started keeping a journal at that point. Every day I write in it about people I met or good and bad things that have happened. So that if one day I ever wake up again without anything, I have notes. I don’t ever want to forget anyone around that campfire again, it was hard enough on Yasha having to rebuild our friendship from nothing when she has memories of before….” His voice choked up slightly and he pushed down the wave of sadness and cleared his throat. Gods this was difficult, he had to remind himself that he had extended this invitation for inquiry in the first place. He wanted Caleb to know this. He wanted his soul bared to this man.

“Mollymauk I am so sorry you had to experience that...” He looked up into blue eyes only to see them filled to the very brim with concern and before he knew what was happening he was pulled into a bone crushing hug. There were gentle fingers in his hair scratching at the base of his neck and the arms around him were a comforting circle of warmth against the chill of the sea breeze. 

“It’s okay…” He wheezed out his reply and let his forehead bury into the shoulder in front of him. His own arms clutched desperately at Caleb’s waist and the front of his shirt as he got as close as he comfortably could. 

“I haven’t forgotten anything in a long time…It’s just habit to write it all down now.” Caleb nodded against the side of his head and muttered something soothing in German he didn’t quite understand. 

“Is that your date…On your wrist.” Molly nodded silently. He’d almost forgotten about how he had shown it to Caleb in the tattoo shop, a form of solidarity between them. 

“Yeah. It’s the date they let me out of the hospital…” He felt vulnerable, exposed and raw but he wanted it to be out there. If what he felt was this deep then there was no point in hiding it now. If Caleb was going to get scared off then he would rather it be now than weeks from now. He was already in too deep for it to not hurt.

Caleb was still rubbing his back soothingly when he pushed molly away just a little bit. Gods if this was where things ended and he never saw Caleb again he felt that he would never forgive himself. Molly searched the other man’s expression desperately but he didn’t find anything in the complexity there. 

“Do I have any pages in your journal?” That question floored him because, of COURSE he did. Molly had written about him adamantly after their first meeting. He had spent almost three pages just on how cute Caleb was when he had written his phone number down. Caleb probably already had ten or so pages dedicated just to him in his memories book. 

“Uh…yes? A few pages…” What an understatement. Caleb was smiling at him softly and it melted his heart. His words came tumbling out without his consent. “I don’t want to forget you, anything you do. I like everything about you and if I ever forgot it I would never forgive myself.” He bit his tongue to stop himself from saying anything else embarrassing. Wow yeah, he was terrible at actually liking someone.

“Gut.” Caleb was blushing slightly and staring up at him like he mattered, like he was important and it made him tight inside his chest. Caleb took a deep breath and pulled away gently from their embrace and his grin turned almost teasing if it hadn’t been so small and his voice so flat and unemotional. “If you ever forgot me I would have to break up with you.” 

Molly felt like someone had punched him in the chest. It took him a few seconds to realize that Caleb was joking with his dry sense of humor and not being serious. It was a few more moments before he realized the implications of his sentence as well. Breaking up with him would have to imply that they were together in the first place and boy did that flower of hope bloom rapidly in his chest. 

“That dry humor is so entertaining Caleb.” His grin grew on his face without his permission as he watched Caleb realize his own mistake. His hand yanked away from Mollymauk’s grasp as a dark flush colored him a shade of red so bad it clashed with his ginger hair. Molly’s grin grew even bigger as he stepped after the retreating man and caught one of his hands in his grasp again.

“I didn’t mean to imply…Uh I just was…um” Gods he was adorable and so handsome and the moonlight made everything brighter and soft. Finally, Molly felt in his element as teasing words flew to his lips. 

“Oh, you were implying alright. I do say Mr. Widogast in order to break up with me you have to first be dating me exclusively!” He trailed his finger up the inside of Caleb’s elbow and the many spluttered in absolute embarrassment. 

“I would not be opposed, but… oh _Scheisse_.” He cursed and Molly pulled on his arm to bring him closer until they were face to face. He knew his own cheeks were probably flushed to all hell from their stupid flirty banter but he didn’t care. They were under the stars and moon on the edge of a beach and away from the group and he was happier than he had been in months. Moonweaver watch over their stupid asses please.

“Caleb.” His voice took a serious turn and while he didn’t meet his gaze he knew that the man was listening to him. “Do you want to have the privilege of breaking up with me if I ever forget you?”

“Ja. I would like that.” Molly grinned and suddenly bent down to grab Caleb around his hips and lifted him off the ground. He hugged him close and spun him in a circle as he laughed with unbridled joy in his veins. It felt like liquid gold and sunshine. He carefully put Caleb back onto his feet in the sand and he felt flushed and knew he probably looked like an idiot. Caleb looked shocked and winded and a little overwhelmed so Mollymauk took the tiniest step backwards to give him breathing room. He was a little bit tipsy, maybe they both were.

“Caleb, darling you have made me the happiest man tonight.” He purred the words and when he received a smile in return, albeit a shy one, he could not have been more elated. This is what flying must feel like, he thought to himself.

“Ja, well we are both intoxicated everything seems great when you’re drunk.” He was rolling his eyes and Molly wasn’t going to let that slide so easily. 

“Hm, but everything was great when I met you and I was very sober then. “ Caleb reached out and swatted at his face in embarrassment. 

“Stop saying embarrassing things or I will break up with you for real.” Mollymauk spluttered. 

“We just got together!” He threw his arms to his sides dramatically but Caleb was laughing and he would do anything to get Caleb to laugh every day of his life. 

“Ja then you better behave.” Gods but he loved this Caleb, openly flirting with him, smiling and laughing. He wanted desperately to protect everything about this man’s happiness and he knew that it was probably fragile. Based on his earlier words at the camp fire he was still a work in progress. They all were in some regards and he was going to be the best damn boyfriend he could and be there when Caleb needed him.

_____________

Caleb was breathless, the beers he’d had were sitting happily in him and he was probably red from head to toe but gods was he happy. Mollymauk was laughing next to him his tail flicking happily from side to side as he grabbed Caleb’s hand once more and started to lead him along the water’s edge once again. 

He was still reeling from his own words and the realization that they were officially a thing now. At least enough of a thing for there to be grounds for breaking up. Wow they would have to clarify terms for that later but for now he was just content. 

The cool water occasionally splashing over their feet made the heat in his cheeks feel less prominent as they continued their evening stroll along the sandy waterline. They paused as they came across some large rocks and Caleb leaned into Mollymauk’s side again as they both looked out at the moon reflected in the rippling surface of the water. It was gorgeous. The right amount of mysterious and calming in one picturesque image.

“You know they say the Moonweaver is the spirit that watches over late romantic adventures. She protects late night lovers and those looking for a good time.” Caleb smiles softly and turned his face to hide his grin in Mollymauk’s neck. 

“I’m guessing you like this spirit?” The laugh vibrated against where his chin rested against the tieflings warm skin. 

“Oh very much so. She’s my favorite deity.” It was said with such revelry that it caught Caleb’s full attention. His gaze travelled up the side of Mollymauk’s neck and towards his face and expression. It was soft and thoughtful and he was struck by a sharp feeling of affection, warm in his chest and core.

Caleb looked at the way the moonlight reflected in those eyes and he found himself leaning closer. He could tell the other man was deep in thought, probably about his past, about their conversations and maybe even just about nothing. 

It didn’t matter though because Caleb was thinking about Mollymauk, and only Mollymauk. 

“Molly…” He spoke his name with the sole intention of getting him to look his way, turn his head. That motion had them almost nose to nose and he heard the sharp intake of breath. 

“Yes Caleb?” His words were breathless in the night air and maybe it was the sounds of the crackling fire several hundred yards away or the bright moon reflecting over the waves, bathing them in soft white light. It could have even been that fact that every thought in his mind was an amalgamation of the man in front of him. His face, his many different smiles, his hair, horns, nose, his lips. Caleb wanted to kiss him and the tension in the air between them was electrically charged.

“I really want to kiss you.” He was saying it before he could think to stop it and as soon as the words left his mouth the terror of anticipation and anxiety of rejection flooded his veins like a tsunami. He felt himself pull away defensively but a quick hand settling on the back of his neck held him in place. 

Mollymauk was staring at him with intention and so much kindness and care that it made his heart feel like bursting.

“I would like that very much.” 

With those words Molly leaned in and Caleb met him halfway. The first press of their lips was careful and soft. It was a gentle test of the waters. Slow and careful and sweet. 

Finding that he quite liked it Caleb pressed up into the kiss more. He molded his mouth against soft full lips while his heart pounded so loudly in his ears he could hardly hear a thing. It was just buzzing his his brain and heat in his chest and softness caressing his mouth.

Molly was gentle with him at first and his fingers slid up into the hair at the base of his neck and he closed his hand into a fist to grip it softly. A low groan escaped Caleb’s lips at the feeling. His own hands slid up the front of Molly’s shirt and cupped either side of his face tenderly as he lost himself in the feeling of kissing someone after so long. It had been so long and that it was with someone so wonderful and kind. These thoughts made his heart soar and it reached deeper into his feelings than he had even known possible.

He never wanted this fucking moment to end because his head was only filled with happy thoughts and thoughts of how great this felt. It all came crashing down very suddenly. 

A very loud and very high-pitched shrieking could be heard behind them getting closer and closer. They pulled apart suddenly and Mollymauk growled as his tail lashed behind him. He was clearly displeased at being interrupted. That growl did something to Caleb he was too shy to even think about.

Jester was running towards them at full speed with Beauregard chasing after her with what appeared to be a bottle of water. She was adamantly trying to splash Jester with it and they could see as they got closer that Beauregard was soaked from head to toe.

“I AM GOING TO GET YOU SOAKING WET IN REVENGE!” Beau was yelling angrily as she chased Jester down towards them. 

“THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID BEAU!” Jester was cackling as she avoided the water being splashed at her. The girls splashed through the cold waves of the ocean until they looked up and realized exactly who they were running drunkenly towards and interrupting. Jester stopped dead in her tracks with a large splash of ocean water as their clasped hands and flushed faces registered in her brain.

“Oh fuck! Beau, we fucked up!” Jester turned around just in time to get a face full of ocean water from Beauregard’s newly filled water bottle. She blinked slowly as the water cascaded down her face while Beau upended the entire bottle on her head.

“Not my fault you ran this direction. There, now we’re even.” She looked passed Jester at Molly and Caleb who were still frozen in place. Caleb realized they hadn’t moved and that Molly’s hands were still on his neck and in his hair and he quickly cleared his throat and stepped fully away, untangling himself rapidly from their intimate grasp. He would like to be launched rapidly into the sun now, that would be just dandy. The silent screaming in his head increased in volume.

Molly groaned and turned on his feet to look at the two girls who were now going to feel his full wrath for interrupting them. 

“You are both dead to me.” Molly snarled the words and Caleb watched as his tail thrashed wildly before he lunged at both girls and tackled them fully into the rolling waves. They all landed in the water, soaking all three of them from head to toe in freezing cold saltwater. 

“MOLLY NOOO MY DRESS!!” Jester’s indignant cry rang out.

 

“That’s what you get for interrupting!” Molly was making sure to splash both of them excessively.

“MY BACK TATTOO HASN’T HEALED YET YOU ASSHOLES!” Beauregard lifted Mollymauk up and threw him further into the waves with a loud splash. A truly impressive display of strength and anger.

“It’s fine Beau just wash it well when you get home.” Jester called out as she tried to ring out her dress and received another face full of water from Molly.

Caleb sighed heavily as they continued to banter and he started walking back towards the dimming campfire in the distance. He left the fools to wrestle in the cold waves and tried to control his raging hormones at the image of Mollymauk, tail thrashing and fangs bared at the girls. He was too gay for this shit. He told himself that he didn’t find that image incredibly hot in every way as he traipsed back through the deep sand. He could think about it later when he was alone, not right now when he was already consumed with thoughts of Mollymauk. 

Their sweet moment was very much over but he touched his lips briefly and smiled at the memory. Even if Mollymauk didn’t have a perfect memory he did, and he would never forget tonight or any of the future nights he hoped they would spend together. 

Caleb ignored Fjords questioning gaze as he found Nott half buried in the sand, passed out drunk. He heaved a long sigh. What a night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Whew we are getting into the fun stuff now and I can't wait to write more. I will be going on hiatus when i am on vacation July 4th - July 18th. Do not expect any updates during that time and we shall see if chapter 5 is posted before i leave hopefully. 
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated a million times over than you so much <3  
> If you want to come scream as me on instagram you can find me @caketastrophe_cosplay and same for tumblr @Caketastrophecosplay
> 
> Have a wonderful day <3


	5. A Goblins Tentative Approval

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! I am still on vacation but I felt a need to push this update out after this weeks episode. Please bask in this softness.
> 
> Also feel free to read this cuteness as much as you need for healing. This story will be happy.
> 
> As always I hope you enjoy <3

Ink Ch5

Nott watched as her boy, her wonderful broken and glued back together boy, wandered off with the purple mess of tattoos and piercings hand in hand. The protective side of her wanted to march over there and demand to know what Mollymauk’s plans were with Caleb but…the rational side of her that understood that Caleb was an adult held her back. Besides, he was smiling and had been for a large portion of the night.

Yeah, she was pretty drunk and currently had her clawed fingers inches into the sand digging a moat around Jester and Beau but…she was watching them walk towards the water’s edge with a careful eye. Caleb had become more important to her than almost anyone in her life and she felt that his slow and honestly fragile recovery was her responsibility and sometimes she couldn’t help but be a bit overbearing.

The tattoo had been a wonderful idea and ever since he got it she had seen Caleb making leaps and bounds in his own shy way towards a new life. It had truly been a turning point and the less protective side of her would always be grateful to Mollymauk for that.

“Awhh Beau look. Look how cute they are.” Jester was slapping her friend adamantly and pointing towards where Molly and Caleb had stopped several feet away and were talking quietly while holding hands. Nott made a face. She supposed it was kind of cute.

“Ew. Anything involving Molly is definitely not cute.” Beau’s voice was muffled by the sand she was digging through as she went deeper and deeper. She hadn’t even looked up from her task and Nott found herself snickering slightly at the Monk’s stubbornness when it came to the lavender tiefling.

“Well I think they’re great for each other. It’s been, well almost forever since Molly has been serious about someone. It’s so funny when he gets flustered.” Jester was trying to make a tower out of the sand and it was not working at all. The sand was too dry and she was too drunk to notice.

“Heh I can agree to that. It’s hilarious watching him struggle for words.” Beau had made a cube of some kind, none of them really knew what it was supposed to be a part of but it was a pretty nice cube.

“Honestly it’s a miracle either one of them can speak to the other.” Nott chimed up finally as she completed her shitty moat just to have Beauregard accidentally dump sand into it and fill a whole section. Why did she even bother in the first place? Curiously her gaze shifted back over to the water’s edge and she saw them embracing tightly, Molly’s tail was wrapped around himself and it seemed like a serious conversation. She worried for a moment but they resumed walking eventually. The flash of a smile on Caleb’s face made her worry ease and she heaved a sigh.

“Maybe they’re good for each other…” Both girls stopped their building as they looked over at Nott and where she sat staring at the boys in the distance.

“I think they are exactly what the other one needs.” Beauregard made a face at Jester.

“What makes you say that? Mollymauk needs a solid dose of sit the fuck down and shut up.” She went back to perfectly shaping her cube sides.

“Isn’t that what Caleb is for him?” Jester looked at Nott hoping for some kind of confirmation or denial and she shrugged and tried to dig out the piece of the moat beau had destroyed.

“Caleb is…” How could she say this without giving anything away that he would be upset about later.

“Caleb knows how to be calm and collected when he needs to be. He has his moments but he’s really great at knowing what to do and he’s really smart in every way. I don’t think he’s ever not had a plan when something goes wrong.” Jester was eating up her words, nodding and leaning forward on her hands. “He just doesn’t know how to…enjoy things anymore exactly. For good reason but…still.”

“Exactly! Molly needs someone who can keep up with him but also tell him when he’s being a bit too ridiculous you know? And if Caleb needs to let go and have fun again, Molly is perfect for him. If anyone knows how to enjoy the moment its him. Or me.” She grinned happily and her tail lashed excitedly before it slapped into the side of Beau’s cube destroying it on accident.

“Jester! I worked hard on that!” Beau shouted as she jumped to her feet.

“Whoopsy!” Jester stood as well but it was the foot Beauregard sent through her carefully and poorly constructed tower that sent the girls into a play fight. Jester had no problems picking beau up and hauling her into the ocean waves. Nott watched them run around in the sands as she thought about the compatibility of this loud tattooed man with her Caleb.

In the distance she noticed they were in a tight embrace. She looked away for fear of seeing too much and in general she’d never felt comfortable with things like that. For now, she decided that Caleb was happy with this, he wanted this and she would support it. That however meant nothing for how thoroughly she would put this tiefling through the ringer if he so much as hurt a single hair on Caleb’s head. Nott was going to have a talk with him later but for now she would entertain this and maybe help it along.

______________________________________

Caleb made it back to the fire where he saw the remains of several sand structures that maybe had been something at one time, maybe not. Fjord, Yasha and Nott were sitting silently by the embers of the campfire and at Fjords suggestion they put out the embers, buried them in a layer of sand according to fire code and started to pack everything up. Nott had to be woken up from her drunken state and ushered to get ready to leave. Caleb felt a pang of adoration for his tiny goblin companion.

By the time the three soaked idiots returned to their spot everything was packed and ready to go and they were all breathless and honestly soaking wet. Yasha went to Beauregard and wrapped her in a towel. Mollymauk grabbed two for him and Jester and everyone wandered back up the stairs to the small parking lot. Caleb noticed the clinging fabric of Molly’s pants and shirt with the water and he felt something in him want.

Then he very abruptly remembered that he was going to be riding on a motorcycle with a very wet Mollymauk and the part of him that hated damp clothing cringed.

Plus he had Nott to worry about and she was fairly drunk, holding onto Yasha's jacket as she stumbled up the sand bank. Everyone else including Yasha, Fjord and Mollymauk had enough time to sober up in their late night adventure down towards the beach. Caleb felt the slight tingling of alcohol in his system and he knew that neither he nor Nott would be driving themselves anywhere tonight. He worried at his lip as he thought about the best way to get Nott back to her apartment safely as he looked between the group nervously.

“Yasha…I..may I?” the large woman looked towards him curiously before she noticed his gaze on Nott. Her smile was soft as was her gaze and he felt himself relax under it.

“I can bring Nott home if you would like. Neither of you are fit to drive home.” He nodded to her silently, he appreciated her ability to understand what he was meaning to say before he even had to say it. He wondered if she had ever dealt with nonverbal people before. She certainly seemed good at it.

His next challenge to tackle had to do with one very wet tiefling who was wringing out his hair near his motorcycle. Caleb went to approach him with a question on the tip of his tongue when Molly simply stripped off his shirt and started to ring it out and Caleb’s heart thudded to what he assumed was a full stop in his chest.

Shieße.

Mollymauk swiftly gave up on the shirt in his grasp and simply threw it into the bag on his motorcycle and shrugged his leather jacket back on. Caleb was weak, he knew he was weak and not very brave, but this was just unfair. How was he supposed to ride on the back of that motorcycle and not explode on the spot. At least he wouldn’t have to feel the gross clinginess of wet clothing against him.

“Caleb are you alright over there?” He startled and realized he had simply frozen next to Yasha halfway between her jeep and the motorcycle. Mollymauk already had his helmet on and the door to the Jeep had been slammed shut.

Feeling the groups eyes on him he quickly composed himself, the flush on his cheeks was unavoidable so he ignored it, and walked briskly over to Molly.

“Perfectly fine. J-ja everything is fine…”He made his way over to the bike and nodded to Mollymauk as the tiefling gave him a look. He admitted to nothing and simply slid onto the back of the bike without a word.

“Oh Caleb, is it okay if we stop by my place so I can grab some dry clothes?” Molly had his visor up and was looking at him hopefully. How was he supposed to say no to that face? He nodded mutely and the smile he received was blinding.

“Sweet! Alright hang tight it will be a quick stop.” They pulled out of the parking lot and Caleb felt his brain spiral into thought after thought of what this meant and didn’t mean. What he should expect or not anticipate. It was all very confusing to him especially because he was still riding on the realization that he was dating Mollymauk Tealeaf. That was wild…they were Boyfriends? Or something like that. They were dating exclusively and that was still unnerving to him.

He didn’t deserve Mollymauk. This bright tattoo artists who was happy to help and oh so kind…who apparently forgot things from his past. Caleb would corrupt him….

He shook those thoughts from his head and held tighter to the bare skin he could feel under that purple jacket. Those thoughts he could address later because they were pulling up outside of an apartment building that was purple and teal and it honestly screamed Mollymauk.

“Why am I not surprised…” He muttered the words as he slipped the helmet from his head and slid off the back of the bike. Mollymauk chuckled and removed his own helmet carefully.

“Because if you were it would mean that you didn’t really know me very well.” His grin was contagious and Caleb felt a small smile pull at his own lips. He held the helmet under his arm and looked away as his self-consciousness made it falter.

“Uh, here…come on up. I’ll be quick.” Caleb nodded and he kicked himself internally at the thought that he wanted Molly to take his time. He wanted to stay here and hang out and maybe get into some not so savory activities…but he didn’t deserve that. He didn’t want to ruin Mollymauk in all of his wonderful words and kind smiles.

The stairs led them to the second floor and Molly undid the locks on a purple door with an eye painted on it. Caleb found himself staring and inspecting every detail he could as the door swung open into a modest apartment. There were trinkets and pieces of furniture that didn’t match all over the place. The green cloth couch didn’t match the brown arm chair at all but they both seemed to go with the Turkish rug that was laid out in the living room space. The walls had been painted in soft blues and purples and reds and he really liked the soft vibe of the apartment, it was eclectic and it breathed with the night energy.

Molly seemed a bit uncomfortable in the entryway and Caleb nodded towards him.

“Is that your room?” He nodded to the door off the side and received a nod in turn. Molly quietly opened the door and inside there were colorful tapestries and rugs and blankets with pillows all equally as soft looking as the other. There were posters from all kinds of bands and a few clothing items on the floor, it was comfortable and overwhelming all at the same time. The bed was large and had a smooth silk printed bedspread with constellations and star signs across it.

“Home sweet home…” Molly smiled awkwardly and Caleb chuckled and shook his head.

“It’s nice, homier than my apartment for sure. I do not ah…have many belongings. It is all very minimalist, this is nice and uh...Lived in.” He smiled a tad and Molly was grinning back at him sharply.

“I’m glad you feel that way Mr. Caleb.” Molly grabbed few things from his drawers and then turned towards the doorway.

“Right, so I’m going to shower and change into dry clothes. Here’s some spares for you if anything got too wet at the beach and I’ll uh be right back…” He gave an awkward smile and Caleb gave a little wave to him. It left an uneasy feel in the air as Molly turned and left for the shower. It felt like they both had words on the tips of their tongues and no way to say them.

The social tiredness of being out with people caught up to him rapidly and Caleb found himself sinking onto the bed and sprawling out on the soft mattress. It wasn’t crazy soft but it was better than most and he did his best to enjoy it while it lasted. It would be okay if he was laying on Molly’s bed while he was in the shower that wasn’t weird.

Or maybe it was weird.

Caleb sat up suddenly feeling self-conscious about laying on someone else’s bed and he looked at the clothes in his hands. It was a soft worn band shirt with a faded logo. He looked around confirming in the very empty room that he was definitely alone before he pressed the fabric to his nose and inhaled.

The cloth was still soft against his lips and it smelled like dryer sheets and lavender. It smelled clean but also distinctly like Mollymauk and he really liked it. Caleb’s shirt wasn’t wet from the beach at all but he stripped it off anyway and pulled the shirt on. It felt nice on his skin and he put his scarf back on over it.

If a freshly washed shirt smelled like him…

Caleb glanced towards the pillows on the bed and before he could stop himself he was laying back down onto the soft mattress and burying his face into one of the pillows. He hugged it to his face and felt the smooth sheets on his skin. His inhale was deep and long and he almost groaned with the nice smell that filled his senses. It was masculine and strong but there was a gentle hint of lavender again that was so uniquely Mollymauk that it had to be some kind of oil or shampoo or something that he used.

Tiredness seeped into his bones as he cuddled the pillow tighter and fell that pleasant curling warmth from being tipsy settle under his skin. This bed was nice, the pillows smelled like Mollymauk and Caleb was kicking off his shoes and curling up into a comfortable ball before he could stop himself.

______________

Mollymauk was quick in the shower, he didn’t want Caleb to get uncomfortable waiting for him so he just did his best to get the ocean water and sand off of his body before he stepped out of the hot water and grabbed a towel.

He was nervous, terribly so because Caleb was at his house for gods sake and he didn’t want to mess anything up. He knew, clearly so, that nothing was going to happen between them but he couldn’t help from hoping.

He was going to move at Caleb’s pace and he was going to drive him home like a gentleman and maybe if he fucked his hand later when he got home and thought about that pretty and soft mouth on his that would be okay too.

Molly toweled off and pulled on the loose harem pants he’d grabbed as well as a tank top that had a pyramid on it and the words pansexual illuminati printed in white ink. He grabbed the lavender oil he used on his hair and gently ran his fingers through his curls with it so they wouldn’t be a disaster from the salt water. Checking his phone he was pleased to see that he’d only taken ten minutes, fifteen since they walked in the doorway. That was excellent considering that he normally took about thirty or forty if he was really getting ready.

His tail flicked behind him and hung his towel back onto the hook near the door as he quickly walked back into the hallway and towards his bedroom. He pushed the door open softly and stared dumbly at the scene before him.

On the bed Caleb was curled up, his face soft with sleep smushed into one of Molly’s pillows. He was also curled up in the slightly too big band t-shirt that he’d given him and his chest squeezed at the sight. It was fucking adorable and he resisted the urge to take a photo because he had a feeling Caleb wouldn’t like that.

Molly quietly approached the bed and used his tail for stealthy balance as he crawled over Caleb without touching him and laid down on the mattress next to him. He laid on his back careful of his horns and looked over at Caleb with his bottom lip in between his teeth.

He was so torn. So terribly torn between leaving Caleb to sleep because clearly the man was terribly tired or waking him out of curtesy to get him home where he could be comfortable. He really didn’t want to wake him when he seemed so at peace but… he needed to do the right thing.

Gently he reached out with a hand, rolling onto his side and he shook Caleb by the shoulder softly.

“Caleb…Darling do you want to go home or stay here and sleep? “He watched him for any sign of tensing as his eyes fluttered open but all he got was a grunt of German. Molly laughed softly and poked his cheek.

“Caleb. I need you to tell me what you want.” Caleb huffed and rolled onto his side to face Molly and he was glaring at him. Heavens above this man was glaring at him for waking him up and it was adorable.

“I’m tired and I want to sleep.” Caleb frowned and ran a hand over his own face to rub at it tiredly. “If it is too much of a problem I can go back to my own place…”

Molly quickly reached out and settled a hand on his shoulder hesitantly.

“No! I mean…if you. If you’re tired and you’re comfortable with it you could stay here tonight?” He hesitantly extended the offer and tried to backtrack when he noticed the tense line of Caleb’s shoulders and the widening of his eyes.

“I mean in a strictly going to sleep kind of way and maybe some cuddling at the most if you’re okay with that. Nothing sexual at all I swear!” both of his hands came up to rest in front of him in an open position. Caleb seemed to relax enough at that and he nodded silently.

“Ja, I am…I am good with cuddling if you want?” Molly felt his heart jump into his throat and he nodded enthusiastically as he shuffled forwards slowly. He held his arms open and Caleb easily scooched forward into his embrace and settled himself under Molly’s chin with his arms around his waist.

Molly felt warmth at having him in his arms and he felt so wonderful wrapped up with Caleb. It was everything he could have asked for and he couldn’t stop the purring that started to rumble in his chest as he wrapped a tail around Caleb’s leg gently.

“Is this okay?” He asked tentatively and pressed his lips gently to the top of Caleb’s head.

“Ja. This is nice…” The pleasant sigh that left his lips sent tingles all over Molly’s body as he squeezed Caleb’s tightly for a second.

“I’m glad…”

“I have not been held in a long time. I did not realize how much I missed it.” Caleb spoke softly and Molly felt fingers slip underneath the fabric of his tank top to play around the edges of his tattoos and scars.

“It’s nice…especially when it’s with someone you like.” Molly matched the softness of his voice and felt the pleased hum he got in response. Molly was just starting to get comfortable when Caleb shifted in his arms and started to pull away. He immediately opened his eyes wide and started to sit up as well, giving Caleb some space.

“Nein, lie back down… Wait I’m trying to-“He huffed in aggravation and Molly slowly laid back down as Caleb sat up next to him. He blinked in confusion.

“Caleb? Darling what’s wrong?” Molly was very confused because they had both been about to fall asleep, and he didn’t think that his tail had done anything weird.

“Shush I want to look at them.”

“What?” Molly blinked in confusion and Caleb made a slightly annoyed sound.

“I want to look at your tattoos…I haven’t gotten to see them properly yet. C-Can I look at them?” He immediately felt warm and fuzzy at the thought that Caleb wanted to look at his tattoos. Molly nodded slowly and reached up to pull his tank top off over his head before lying back down on his stomach.

He heard a few soft arcane words before a small globule of light filtered into the room and gave them enough light in the night time for Caleb to look at his back. Molly took a deep breath to steady himself as he felt gentle fingers start to skim over and brush the patterns he knew so well on his back. He felt him trace the curve of the large moon on his right shoulder blade first and Molly smiled softly as he remembered getting that tattoo. He’d gotten the big crescent moon first and had quickly followed it with the other phases that curved from it down to the middle of his back and over his ribs. He felt a gentle finger trace over all of them and follow the curve.

He next felt Caleb inspecting the tarot card in the middle of his back just below the pyramid with the eye.

“Why The Fool? You do not seem like a fool to me.” Molly chuckled softly at that and shivered slightly as he felt two fingers slide down his spine right through the center of the ink on his back.

“It’s not the direct meaning of the card. Just like how the Death card doesn’t mean that someone is going to die. The fool simply means inexperience, new life, rebirth and naivety. It was…kind of a running joke for a bit that I was basically a two year old, experience wise, after the memory loss.” There was an estranged sound from behind him and Mollymauk looked over his shoulder at Caleb’s face. It was scrunched up cutely in confusion and Molly wished he’d had his polaroid camera out to capture it.

“That is not how memory loss works at all. That is like saying because I was in an asylum for ten years that I am still a teenager.”

It took a moment for those words to settle into his skin and his head and Molly took in a shaky breath and let it out slowly. Ten fucking years was a long time to have taken from your life and as the realization of what he’d said seemed to dawn on him Molly watched the pleasantly relaxed face of Caleb shift into one of horrified panic.

“I… I-I-I did not mean to s-say that…Ja I can just go.” Caleb started to scramble backwards off the bed and Molly reached out without thinking to grab one of his wrists. It hurt him that Caleb flinched at the contact.

“Caleb, Caleb it’s okay. It’s okay.” He used his most soothing voice and he watched the fear on Calebs face as he glanced between the door and Molly but he was firm in his grip. Caleb was still tipsy and the last thing he was going to do was let him run out of his apartment onto an unfamiliar street while having a panic attack.

“Caleb it doesn’t matter to me.”

“What?” His voice was hoarse with emotions and his breathing was still increasing. Molly shifted closer and tentatively offered him a hand as he moved to sit directly next to him on the bed. Caleb slowly took it and laced their fingers together.

“There, take some deep breaths for me okay?” Caleb did as he was asked and Molly watch him carefully making sure he wasn’t spiraling himself down into more panic. The date on his arm made so much more sense now. Caleb crying as it was marked permanently into his skin and left behind ten years in a mental institution. A voice in the back of his mind reminded him that he was missing more than twenty of his own years and he shoved it away. Caleb was breathing a bit more steadily now and Molly squeezed his hands.

“Do you want to talk about it? Or would you rather we try to go back to sleep?” Caleb played with his fingers absently as he thought it over. He was clearly playing with the idea of talking about it but eventually Caleb shook his head.

“Nein. I would like to sleep…I want to tell you but I cannot right now.” Molly nodded slowly, he had already been let into a lot with this conversation. He leaned over slowly so that Caleb knew he was there and softly pressed his lips to the side of his head.

“Thank you for sharing what you did already and whenever you’re ready I’m here for you. You can tell me when you’re ready.”

“Th-thank you Mollymauk.” His words sounded slightly choked but Molly ignored it. He was about to tug Caleb back to lie down when he remembered that he hadn’t written in his journal yet. An idea flared to life in his head and he stood quickly tail lashing excitedly behind him.

“Get comfortable in the bed I have something!” He darted off towards the other side of the room, making noises of complaints when he couldn’t find the journals. He’d last been writing in them… near the kitchen actually. Curse his disorganization and adhd.

“Ill be right back!” He called over his shoulder as he was leaving the room and headed into the kitchen. He was in just his loose pants and honestly that was pretty much how he wandered about normally. Molly snagged the journal off of the kitchen counter and grabbed a bag of sea salt and vinegar chips too while he was at it. He padded back into the bedroom to see Caleb underneath the covers with them all the way to his chin.

“Oh that’s adorable…” Molly grinned wide before he slid onto the bed and underneath the covers as well. Caleb looked confused.

“What did you grab?”

“Well for starters I grabbed snacks.” He held up the bag triumphantly and watched Caleb roll his eyes. The atmosphere had gone from heavy to happy in a matter of seconds and Molly was pleased with himself for that.

He settled in next to Caleb and propped pillows behind his back. He grabbed a pen from his bedside table and took the cap off with his teeth. He unceremoniously spit it out across the room. It would probably never be seen ever again. Such is life.

“I also grabbed my journal, since you seemed interested in it and I haven’t written in it today yet” He held out the brown leather bound notebook to Caleb who sat up slightly and took it with soft hands and reverent eyes.

“This is the one?” He asked with a soft voice and Molly scooted closer so that his tail could wind around Caleb’s leg under the covers and their shoulders were touching.

“This is one of many. It takes up quite a bit of space to write about every day you’ve lived. This is the current one. See?” He gently took the journal back and flipped through a few pages to just before the middle. The only sense of organization in the books was the dates in the top right corners. He found the one from last Thursday and fought down his embarrassed blush as the page opened up and he remembered exactly how many hearts he had doodled around the edges. You know, like a love struck loser.

Caleb seemed entranced by the pages and sat up a little more to lean into him as he ran his fingers over the scrawling handwriting on the lines. His pointer finger traced over some of the hearts and Mollymauk realized they were both blushing.

“I can…turn to a less embarrassing page if you want to.” He coughed awkwardly and avoided Caleb’s gaze as the man glanced towards him with a smirk.

“Are you embarrassed Mollymauk? You’re the one who flipped to this page.” Molly felt his tail tighten against Caleb’s thigh and heard the man chuckle.

“Shut up. I just flipped to a random one…” Caleb apparently had found his tail, he stroked his fingers over it lightly and Molly had to repress the shiver that went up his spine. Oh no.

“It’s very cute that you wanted to show me this I like it. I also like that you specifically wrote down the memes that we referenced in the bookstore.” Molly chuckled at that part where he’d quoted the vines in the page.

“Accuracy is important.” Caleb handed the journal back to him and Molly flipped to the most recent entry and marked the corner with todays date.

“Do you mind if I write a bit?” He cocked his head to the side, feeling some of the chains in his jewelry jingle at the movement. Caleb shook his head and settled down next to him with a yawn.

“Not at all. I will probably fall asleep soon though so don’t write forever.” Molly felt his pulse sore at that little smile that graced Caleb’s face, all sleepy and cute. It also didn’t help that he had started to absently rub at his tail and Molly shifted as he felt heat start to pool in his groin at the touches.

Was it best to ignore it? He had a pretty good idea that Caleb had no idea what he was doing right then and gods he didn’t want to spook or embarrass him. If he kept that up though Molly would definitely pop a boner and wow that would certainly make their entire night awkward.

He made it through a page of writing when Caleb squeezed harder at his tail and Molly had to bite back a full on groan.

“C-Caleb. I uh. Not that I’m not enjoying it but if you keep that up it might get uncomfortable for both or one of us.” He chuckled and looked over at him, unable to fight the heat in his cheeks. Caleb looked tired and he blinked confused at him until realization set in.

“Oh shieße !” he quickly let go of Molly’s tail and his hands floundered in front of him. “I forgot that tails c-can be. I am so sorry I didn’t mean to to t-“ with a chuckle Molly leaned over and kissed his red forehead. He could feel the heat of the embarrassment on both of their faces.

“It’s fine Caleb. I just know you’re not wanting anything like that tonight so better to stop. However in the future by all means.” He wiggled his eyebrows in the way Yasha had told him was silly and not at all alluring.

Caleb was red in the face but he nodded and sunk down into the covers.

“Ja I will remember that.” Oh good. That was a good reaction that meant he wasn’t opposed to doing things in the future. Molly was pleased with the response so he reached over to put the notebook to the bedside table and snuggled down next to Caleb.

All it took was for him to open up his arms and the man was moving over into them and rubbing his cheek against his chest as they cuddled together. Gods but Molly could get used to this so quickly. Startlingly so.

“Comfy?”

“Ja very. You are nice and warm.” Molly ran his hands up Caleb’s back and settled one on his hip and the other under his neck. His tail wound around his own thigh this time, safe territory for both of them. He couldn’t help the gentle purr that start to roll in his chest.

“Oh that’s nice…You can purr like Frumpkin.” Caleb traced a finger over the tattoos on his chest and Molly smiled at the feeling, his eyes already closed with tiredness.

“Yeah…most tieflings can. Also who is Frumpkin?” Caleb breathed out a short laugh that was more air than sound.

“My cat. Well my familiar but he is a cat most of the time. He is a therapy animal for me too.” Therapy animal and a familiar that sounded incredibly handy to have around. Molly would have to ask to meet this Frumpkin later. Most cats liked him because he was warm furniture with a built in toy to chase if he waggled his tail just right.

“Caleb…aren’t you in control of the lights?” Molly blinking an eye open to stare at the magical floating light above them. Caleb stirred and looked up as well and laughed softly.

“Ja. Sorry I forgot.” The light went out with a soft blink and bathed the room in the darkness of night. The only light from the moon streaming in through the open window.

“Goodnight Caleb.” He breathed the words out against his hair and kissed him softly on top of his head.

“Goodnight Mollymauk…Ich gut” He trailed off into incomprehensible German and Molly felt himself slip into sleep with a pleasant purring in his chest and his arms full of a man he adored.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to the widomauk discord and everyone who has commented or left kudos on this story.
> 
> You can always find me on Tumblr at Caketastrophecosplay


	6. And they were Boyfriends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I was on a brief hiatus but thank goodness my feelings cleared up and I was able to write again!  
> *WARNING*  
> I have update that lovely little rating at the top of this story. You may now see that it is at explicit. This chapters starts to dabbling that field but the chapter out of this is REALLY going to get into it. 
> 
> As always please enjoy <3

Caleb slept better than he had in a long time and as he drifted out of the haze of dreams he realized slowly that he was kissing Mollymauk. Nothing like the soft kisses they had shared at the beach, this was heated. It held the promise of more than just kissing as Molly slipped his tongue past Caleb's lips and Caleb felt something tight and warm in his core. 

He was arching up into the caresses of Mollymauk’s hands when he realized they were naked and their bodies were pressed close together. It was warm and the tattoos on Molly’s skin shifted under the pads of his fingertips as he brought their groins flush together and Caleb gasped into Mollymauk’s mouth at the contact. He groaned in pleasure at the wonderful friction and bucked up into that heat. He hadn't done this in so long and he'd only had his hand for years. Someone else touching him was bliss. 

Caleb remembered what Mollymauk had said about his tail and he reached out for it and grasped the appendage in his hand tightly. He squeezed and slid his fingers down towards the spaded tip of the tail, rubbing gently. The resounding whine was amazing and flushed his cheeks crimson.

“Caleb…”

_"Molly... Mehr. Berühre mich mehr."_ he spoke and paused when he realized it had left his mouth in German. Caleb stilled in the gentle thrusting of his hips as the fog of sleep started to lift from his mind and his eyes blinked open. He stared blearily into wide red eyes and slowly processed what he was taking in. 

He'd been dreaming...

Clearly, he had been dreaming obscene things about Mollymauk right in front of him. In his bed. Rutting against his thigh. Caleb felt the line of a hard length against his stomach where Molly was obviously aroused. Upon further inspection he also realized that he had a tight grip on Molly’s tail, where apparently, he had been rubbing it. 

_Schieße_

Mortification set in rapidly as he sat up with a gasp and realized his horrible, terrible, awful and embarrassing error of judgment.

"Oh fuck. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I should go. I’m sorry.”

His vision swam from a lingering headache of drinking the night before as his voice left his mouth flat and tight. Caleb was crawling from the bed desperately when Molly realized what was happening and he sprung into action himself. 

“Caleb! It’s fine-“ His voice was cut off in a strangled noise because Caleb was already at the door. 

Caleb couldn’t look back because his whole body burned with shame. He wasn’t used to being close to people and he certainly wasn’t used to _that_. Gods it must seem gross, or desperate and weird. Shame and guilt colored his thoughts and vision as he skipped shoes entirely, almost forgot his scarf and paid no mind to the fact that he was still wearing Molly’s shirt. 

He would have reached the front door completely disheveled and bolted, had Mollymauk not vaulted over his own couch and slid in front of the door to block it with his shirtless and very tattooed body. Chest heaving from his sprint over.

Caleb briefly glanced towards the nearest window. He considered it.

Molly caught on and his eyes narrowed threateningly. 

“If you go for the window I will tackle you.” Caleb made an upset noise in his throat and settled instead for hiding his face deep in his scarf. It was childish but he felt that if he didn’t make eye contact and that if he couldn’t see Mollymauk, that it would make everything better. 

He was a thirty-year-old man, rutting against the thigh of some twenty eight year old in the morning like he had never had sex before in his life. Gods it had been years since he’d last had a wet dream. This was stupid. He was stupid and gods Molly probably hated him. 

“Caleb. Caleb darling, hey!” He realized Molly was talking to him and there were gentle hands on his shoulders. He blinked back into the present but refused to make eye contact as he took a deep shuddering breath. 

“I’m sorry- “He choked out the apology and hid his face. “Mollymauk just let me leave. I must be at work in an hour, I might as well be early. I- “He cut off again as the embarrassment flared and he felt hot all the way down his neck. 

 

Molly was staring at him with pinched eyebrows and concern and gods that was even worse. At least he wasn’t laughing. 

“Caleb. I’m not mad, or upset or anything. It’s fine, it happens.” Mollymauk was blushing now too as he looked away and then determinedly those red eyes were on him and a shy smile was on his lips.

“It was…kind of hot actually.” Caleb threw his arms in the air and could only make distressed noises loudly. He was not having an easy time articulating his feelings, or words in general, so he just turned away from Molly so that he could hunch over and hide his face again. 

That window was sounding mighty wonderful right about then.

“Cay… It’s fine. Look you don’t want to talk about it and you did say you should be at work soon. So, we can just forget this happened because it’s not a big deal.” Gentle hands rubbed down his arms and Caleb felt some of his embarrassment start to leave him as Molly spoke gently from behind him. 

He certainly wasn’t hard anymore. Not after embarrassing himself like that in front of Molly. He leaned back into the touches gently and swallowed thickly. Molly’s chin was on top of his head, gods he was so much taller than him, but at least this way he didn’t have to make eye contact. Eye contact would definitely be the death of him right then. 

_______

 

Molly was being as gentle and cautious as he could after waking up to such an interesting display. Gods it had been hot as fuck. 

Caleb had been flushed, panting and gripping at his torso and hips as he rutted up against his thigh. Molly had thought he was dreaming at first, until he heard his name leave those lips at the exact same time that Caleb had found his tail and stroked all the way down it. 

Then he’d realized how bad it could be if Caleb woke up and freaked out… which was exactly what had happened after he’d said something in German and startled himself awake.

Molly didn’t feel shame for things like sexual attraction so he’d been unsure how to handle the situation when Caleb bolted, but he’d really wanted to prevent him from leaving in well…a frazzled state. So, he’d done the only thing he could think, which was to block the door. With his body and take it from there. 

Call it improvising.

“Caleb.” He was rubbing his arms soothingly and rested his chin on top of his head to try and Calm him down. Caleb was hesitant with physical contact, but he’d enjoyed their cuddling before so Molly figured light touches would be okay. Just nothing overwhelming. 

Gods he hoped he was right.

_“Was.”_ Caleb’s voice was small but he was leaning back into him and the high pinch of his shoulder blades had relaxed fractionally. Thank the Moonweaver it was working. 

“You never answered. Do you want to forget this happened or do you want to talk about it?” He gently pressed his lips to the top of his head as he waited patiently for an answer. 

“ _Ja_ … I. We can talk about it but c-can we. I need coffee. I am…am” he trailed off, obviously struggling for words so Molly gave him time to sort out his thoughts and piece them together. He had all the time in the world for Caleb. 

“I would like to talk about it but I need to think and compose myself and I need coffee. My brain does not work in the morning without coffee.” Ah there it was. Molly smiled into the soft auburn curls against his mouth and squeezed Caleb’s shoulders before he let him go. 

“Alright. How about you go take a shower and get ready for work. You can borrow any clothes and I’ll get you a clean towel while I make breakfast. How does that sound?” Molly gently pulled his left shoulder to get him to turn around and Caleb obliged, although reluctantly. 

His cheekbones were still pink and he was hiding in his scarf and all Molly could think was how fucking cute he looked.

“ _Ja_. Sounds _gut_.” He nodded and kept his eyes down and Molly, gods, could not restrain himself from leaning down and kissing his forehead.

“Alright. Fair warning we’re having frozen toaster waffles because I am a terrible cook. Just dreadful.” 

That got a smile and a breathy laugh from Caleb which in turn had Molly grinning wide. He patted his cheek softly and turned away so that it wouldn’t get awkward. 

“Let me grab you a towel. Take your time but uh, what time do you have to be at work?” He walked to the closet and pulled out a vibrant purple towel that was fluffy as fuck and brought it over to him. “Also, you should probably text Nott and let her know you stayed here. Yasha texted and said she brought her home safe and sound, made sure she got in.” 

Caleb nodded and took the towel. He turned to silently go towards the shower but he paused and leaned back up on his toes to kiss Molly on the cheek. 

“ _Danke_ Mollymauk. I have to be in at nine.” 

His heart did stupid little flips and all he could do was smile and nod, before Caleb was towards the bathroom and shutting the door behind him quietly. 

He was fairly certain that Caleb probably melted onto the bathroom floor but he knew that space to process what had happened was probably be the best for now. Especially since Molly himself was probably the source of the embarrassment. He winced and went towards the kitchen.

Breakfast was a short affair for him. He popped the waffles in the toaster over, made coffee for Caleb and tea for himself. Hell, he even went as far as cutting up some strawberries for the tops of the waffles. 

He was a sap what could he say.

Caleb came out of the shower shortly after breakfast was put on the table and he was dressed and his wet hair was combed back. Molly felt a warmth in his chest when he noticed that he was still wearing the shirt that he had lent him, but underneath his cardigan and scarf from the day before.

Molly silently pushed him a plate of waffles and had already put out the butter and syrup on the bar counter top. 

“Breakfast is served and I didn’t cut off any of my fingers slicing the strawberries. I swear.” He wiggled all ten of his fingers at Caleb with a smile. 

Caleb rolled his eyes and took a seat at the kitchen counter. Molly slid into the chair next to him and if he sat close enough that their shoulders brushed, Caleb didn’t comment on it and instead started in on the strawberries. 

“Nott says good morning by the way.” Caleb pulled his phone out of his pocket and slid it over for Molly to see the messages on the screen. 

**From: Mäuschen(Nott)** Caleb are u okay? U can respond 2 this msg!  
 **From: Mäuschen(Nott)** Also if Flashy tattoo man did anything to you I will personally cut hisballs off and have Jester tattoo a dick on his forehead! (eggplant emoji)  
 **To: Mäuschen(Nott)** I am fine. Just spent the night here all is gut. Please don’t tattoo a dick on my boyfriend’s forehead.  
 **From: Mäuschen(Nott)** AH! WTF CALEB. SINCE WHN ISHE UR BOYFRIEND?!?!  
 **To: Mäuschen(Nott)** Uh…since yesterday at the beach? It is not a big deal.  
 **From: Mäuschen(Nott)** YES IT IS?!?! !!! CALEB (crying face)  
 **From: Mäuschen(Nott)** Now I will DEFINITELY chop his balls off ifhe hurts you.  
 **To: Mäuschen (Nott)** Okay Schatz. I’ll let him know.

Molly was laughing by the time he made it to the end of the conversation. He slid the phone back over and noticed that Caleb was smiling slightly. 

“That’s how Nott says good morning I guess? Remind me to get on her good side and soon.” He shoved waffle in his mouth with some strawberries and chewed. He was soaring at the best high right now because Caleb had called him his boyfriend. In a text message to his best friend. That was as official as official could get.

“Ja she is a funny one.” Caleb paused as he chewed and then cleared his throat. “I hope it is okay that I uh…Called you that.” He was looking up at Molly from under his lashes. Molly melted. 

“It made me really happy actually.” He scooted his chair closer to Caleb’s and rested his hand over his on the table.

“I want to be called that, your boyfriend that is. If you want to be that, I mean. We talked about it last night, but we haven’t gone over a lot of things yet…” He was rambling and Caleb was smirking at him like he knew he was rambling. Molly shut his mouth. 

“Ja. I would like to be boyfriends.” He paused. "Officially of course, because we have technically been that for eleven hours and twenty-eight minutes."

Molly nodded enthusiastically, his tail flicking and slapping the floor behind him happily at the thought. Caleb noticed and quirked an eyebrow behind him. 

“Either you’re noticing my tail or checking out my ass right now. I’m okay with both.” Caleb flushed and rolled his eyes as he ate more strawberries. 

“Does it react to your feelings like a cat? Or more like a dog’s tail.” Caleb seemed genuinely curious and Molly figured that he probably hadn’t been with or known many tieflings in his lifetime. 

“More like a cat, but with some differences. I can control it to a degree, have some fun with it.” His tail flicked upwards and tapped Caleb under the chin to raise his head before he leaned over and claimed his lips in a sweet and short kiss. It tasted like maple and strawberries.

“It’s also sensitive. Great in the bedroom to play with as I mentioned last night.” Caleb immediately went red in the face and ears but his embarrassment didn’t stop him from reaching out to grab his tail and ghost his fingers up the back ridges of it. 

“So, you said. Is it more sensitive near the tip or the base?” Caleb’s tone was flat but the glint in his eyes was unmistakable. Holy shit, Molly wanted to drag him to the bedroom and let him see exactly how sensitive it was.

“The base is the most sensitive but all along it is pretty n-nice.” His voice stuttered and his back arched as Caleb’s fingers trailed higher before rubbing a little more right near the base.

“Oh, I see.” His amusement was plain in his voice and Molly bit his lip. 

“Don’t you have work or something soon? I like it Caleb, but if you keep teasing I’m going to make you late, and I won’t feel guilty about it.” Molly narrowed his eyes playfully at him and Caleb considered it for a moment before he released the tail in his grip and reached for his coffee. 

“You’re right I do have work. However, I’m not doing anything after work if you wanted to maybe…explore some t-things.” Caleb struggled for words and Molly had to bite his lip to let him work it out. He decided that maybe he should help him out just a little bit. 

“Are you asking if I want to hang out tonight and we can maybe have sex?” Molly couldn’t help the way his heart thudded at the thought, as it always did when he thought of Caleb in any context, especially naked context. Caleb, bless his heart by the Moonweaver, choked on his coffee and had to cough it out. 

Mollymauk managed to contain his own laughter at Caleb’s expense and rubbed his back comfortingly. 

“J-Ja, that is what I meant.” He cleared his throat again for good measure. They both dissolved into laughter over their breakfast.

The morning continued in a similar pattern. With teasing remarks and stolen kisses until Caleb ushered Molly to get ready, because he really was going to be late for work and they still needed to pick up his car. 

Molly drove them to the tattoo shop and pulled up into his usual space. The shop was dark and locked and he didn’t have any kind of appointments until ten in the morning. He slid off his helmet and parked the bike and they both shuffled off it slowly. Molly leaned back against it casually but his skin felt alight and he didn’t want to say goodbye. A feeling he was growing accustomed to. 

Caleb seemed to be hesitating as well and Molly smiled softly and held a hand out for him gently. Caleb took it carefully and stepped up in between his legs so that they were close together, foreheads pressed tight. 

“You have to go to work darling.” Molly smoothed his hands up Caleb’s arms slowly. 

“I know. I just wanted to say goodbye properly.” He leaned in, Molly closed his eyes as their lips met softly in a kiss. It was sweet and slow and he threaded his fingers up past Caleb’s scruffy jaw and into his hair to pull him close. He didn’t want this kiss to end, he wanted more and Molly fought down the greedy side of him that wanted to make Caleb so very late for work.

He had a couple place in the tattoo shop that would work fine for some nice tomfoolery. Plus Neither Jester nor Yasha were in until ten.

Caleb made a soft noise into his mouth and the smile that graced his face separated their lips but he couldn’t fight it. 

“I could kiss you for hours.” Molly mumbled the words against his lips. Each sound brushing his bottom lip against Caleb’s. He felt the other man smile and Molly leaned in to kiss his happiness and taste it. 

A small beeping interrupted their gentle caress of lips on lips and Caleb stepped back with a groan to slip his phone out of his pocket and turn off the alarm. It must have been one of those ‘get out of the house now and drive to work or you will be late’ alarms. Molly had no doubt that Caleb knew exactly how much time they were wasting.

He chuckled and laced their fingers together, leaning in to nip at Caleb’s bottom lip before sitting back on the seat of the motorcycle. Caleb was flushed and he was shoving his phone back into his pocket with a shy smile. 

“You going to work today? Or do I get to be a bad influence and keep you?”

“Nein. I am leaving for work now. I just got distracted.” Caleb rolled his eyes but he did lean back in for one quick peck on the cheek.

“Shame. I love distracting you.” Molly licked his lips deliberately.

“Goodbye Mollymauk. I will see you later tonight and message you in a bit.” Molly bit his own lip and gave him a casual salute. He shamelessly watched Caleb’s ass as he walked towards his beat-up car and smirked when Caleb caught him looking. 

“Later.” Was the last word he heard and Molly chuckled breathlessly as he watched him drive away. 

If he was singing a happy song, and humming to himself as he set up the shop earlier than normal that day, nobody was there to comment on it. He might have started up his playlist of cute songs rather than the normal shop music while he cleaned supplies and finalized some sketches for clients later in the day. 

An energy he hadn’t even felt before buzzed around him. He loved it.

 

The shop had been incredibly busy all day as soon as Jester showed up at ten for the open and their first appointments. Molly had done a skull tattoo on a young man’s shoulder with flowers spilling down from the eyes and onto his arm. It was beautiful with bright fuchsia and cornflower blue intertwining with the harsh black lines of the skull. 

He’d chatted with the man, who was a fan of his work and had been following his social media for quite some time apparently, about favorite tattoos he’d done or that he had. 

His phone was buzzing in his pocket every so often and his itched to check it. To see if one of those notifications was a text from Caleb. He was a professional and he was going to do his job properly and not be distracted by his phone. 

Molly did have to take it out of his pocket and place it on one of the shelves under his work station to keep from feeling it vibrate and feel his heart thud against his chest. It was not good for carefully tattooing intricate lines in the leaves of each flower. 

“Wow you’re popular. Someone trying to get ahold of you?” Greg, the man being tattooed, nodded his head towards his phone. Molly supposed he did have a lot of social media activity but he usually left those pings on silent. It was only text messages and calls that made any noise on his phone these days. 

“Someone indeed. However-“ He cut the gun so that it wasn’t making noise between them as he smiled up at Greg. “I am working and he can wait.”

“How do you even know its him?” Jester was wrapping up the wrist of a halfling girl who had just gotten her first tattoo in plastic wrap and a nice bandage. The gaze she shot him was mischievous. Son of a bitch did they all already know?

A quick glance at Yasha behind the desk with a sly smirk on her face confirmed it. 

“Because…He said he would text me later. You’re right I don’t know.” Molly dipped back into the green inks he was blending as he shot Jester a look. 

“Wait I’m missing something here.” Greg looked between him and Jester, confusion evident. Gods damn it Greg. 

“Oh, great Greg. Now you’ve gone and done it.” He rolled his eyes as he heard Jesters shout of joy as she finished up with her client and slid over in one of the rolling chairs. 

“We’re talking about his new B-O-Y friend!” She was sitting backwards on her chair, her tail flicking back and forth with visible excitement. Molly couldn’t keep his own tail from flipping a bit happily behind him. 

“Jester I’m trying to work.” She rolled her eyes. 

“You work and talk at the same time all the time Molly. Come on SPILL.” Gods he was not getting out of this one. With an overly dramatic sigh he looked up at Greg who was looking amused but not perturbed by the conversation. 

“Do you mind?” He shook his head and with a shrug Molly start up his gun again and went back to work on his leaves as he spoke to Jester. 

“Alright what do you want me to spill?” He was intently finishing the lines on each leaf and then he could go back in and shade. Molly while listening to Jester was still very intent on his work. 

“Oh, my goodness. Everything! What did you talk about on the beach last night? He stayed over at your house, right? Nott told us that Caleb never came home and she was worried and then Caleb texted her and called you his BOYFRIEND! And I was screaming for hours about it until I came in and then we’ve been so busy! So now you have to tell me everything.” She clasped her hands together and her shit eating grin was full of real happiness for him. Mollymauk was certainly appreciative that she cared about him so much. 

“Alright. I told him about my…well the important thing about what happened two years ago-” He glanced up towards Greg but the man didn’t react at all or ask questions. “-Because I wanted to know if it would be a problem at all in him liking me. He was really understanding about it and…” Molly bit his lip and pulled the needle away from Greg’s arm as he remembered what he said. 

It still made his heart race and his cheeks flush slightly.

Jester was leaning forward in her chair as the tattoo gun buzzed between them where he held it. Her face was uncharacteristically very serious.

“He said that he was sorry it happened and then he asked if he had any pages in my journals.” Molly flushed just thinking about when he’d showed some of them to Caleb last night. Ugh oh gods normally things like that wouldn’t embarrass him. 

“Which I know already that he does. Wait did he ask you out? Did you ask him out?” Jester as practically rocking in the chair in excitement. 

“It was a mutual agreement.” She made happy noise form her chair and spun around. Molly told her about how Caleb had asked to stay the night because he was too tired to go home. No they hadn’t had sex and she seemed disappointed but understanding about that and Molly had to remind her that it was only the second date. 

Greg’s tattoo was finished in the next half hour and he thanked him profusely for the new art and Molly finally was about to take a break for lunch. Gods damn it he was tired though. Normally he didn’t get out of bed until at least nine in the morning but it had been worth it. 

Molly swiped his phone from where he had stashed it earlier and scrolled through the messages. The first two were Caleb just confirming that he had made it to work safely and thanking Molly for the morning. He would have expected it to end there but there seemed to be more and Molly scrolled down eagerly. 

**From: GorgeousMan** \- So apparently my coworkers have noticed that I am not wearing one of my normal "boring" shirts and have started to ask me questions. Mollymauk send help.  
 **From: GorgeousMan** \- Bryce says hello.  
 **From: GorgeousMan** \- They also say that they’re keeping an eye on you???  
 **From: GorgeousMan** \- I assume you are busy at the shop and I should get back to work.

The time stamp on the next text message was from a few hours later but Molly literally melted in his work chair as he read it. He had to cover his face with his arms as he felt his cheeks flame.

**From: GorgeousMan** \- I miss you.   
“Yasha!” Molly was still hiding in his chair when he yelled her name. “Help! My boyfriend is really cute and I don’t know what to do about it.” He chucked his phone in her general direction and heard her catch it. He peeked through his fingers as she read it. 

“Oh. That’s sweet.” She smiled softly and threw it back at him. Underhand. They would never make that mistake ever again. “Tell him how you haven’t stopped talking about him all day?”

“No! That’s embarrassing as fuck!” He fumbled with the phone in his slouched position and stared at the blank message. What was he to say about that? Nothing sauce or wonderful came to mind at first and he was just blanking honestly. 

“Just say what you’re feeling!” Jester called over from her station. A tiefling with pale almost ashen skin and short pointed horns sat in her chair getting a thigh piece done.

“That would take a novel. I am feeling a lot right now.” He took a deep breath and started again on the message. Just simply put how it made him feel. Feelings. He could do this. 

 

**To: GorgeousMan** \- I miss you too. A lot a lot but its been suuuper busy here.   
**To: GorgeousMan** \- wut time are u off work???

He put his phone down and grabbed the sandwich he was supposed to be eating right then. He didn’t expect the phone to vibrate as soon as he put the sandwich in his mouth. He almost chocked in his excitement to grab the device.

**From: GorgeousMan** \- I am glad that it is busy for you. I am off at six. You?  
 **To: GorgeousMan** \- Not of f until 7 today but you can come hang out? (tiefling smileyface emoji)  
 **From: GorgeousMan** \- I would like to but I have to run some errands. 

Molly frowned and chewed thoughtfully on his sandwich. Well shit. That kind of ruined his plans for closing down the shop. His phone vibrated again.

**From: GorgeousMan** \- If you would like you can meet me at my apartment once you get off and close up the shop? I would still like to spend the evening with you.

“Oh fuck.” Molly set his sandwich down and texted back in a flurry of thumb movement. 

**To: GorgeousMan** \- YES! That soudns lik the perfect plan. Just shoot me ur address and I will head ovr right around 7  
 **From: GorgeousMan** \- Sounds like a plan. I have to get back to work now but I will see you tonight.  
 **To: GorgeousMan** \- see you tonite! (purple heart emoji)

Molly paused over the send button. Was the heart too much? Nah. Oh well. He sent it and slid his phone back into his pocket with a happy grin. 

From across the tattoo shop Yasha and Jester looked on at the lavender tiefling while he happily chowed down on his sandwich and looked at his phone every so often with little happy noises. 

“It’s almost gross, isn’t it?” Jester whispered to the larger woman, making a face. 

Yasha nodded silently but her small smile was evident. 

“Yeah but it’s good for him. I like Caleb.” Jester grinned. 

“I do too. He makes Molly act like a total dork.” She laughed and went back to her work as Yasha greeted a walk-in customer.


	7. Gorgeous To Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE! Here is a little gift I can give ; U; <3  
> This story liiiiiives. Enjoy this chapter, its a bit shorter than intended and i will explain that in the end notes. For now please enjoy <3
> 
> As always your comments are sweet and wonderful and i love every single one so so much. I cannot believe how well loved this story is and it makes me very happy to write and share it <3

Caleb Widogast was nervous. Terribly, horribly, gut-wrenchingly nervous -- but he was also incredibly excited, as he flitted about his small apartment and tried to find some semblance of organization in the stacks of books and papers that were scattered everywhere. It wasn’t that he was a dirty person. In fact, Caleb took excellent care of his books and belongings. However, taking care of himself? Well, he was still working on that a bit. But he was much better at keeping himself clean than he had been a year ago, and even more so before his rehab.

He was better every day, and even when he had bad days, the trend was still headed upwards, and that was all he could ask for.

He made a sweep past Nott’s room, peeked inside at the piles of collected things, made a face, and gently shut the door to hide that mess. She was her own person and the state of her bedroom was not his concern. Besides, she would throw a fit if Mollymauk even stepped a single foot in her space.

Oh, that’s right, Mollymauk would be there soon.

Caleb sucked in a breath and bit at one of his thumbs nervously. Everything was as clean as it was going to get, it was past time for the tattoo shop to be closed, and he was just waiting on the telltale text message that meant Mollymauk was on his way. His chest was tight with excitement and his hands were shaking just a little with his nerves.

What if it suddenly felt awkward? He wouldn’t know what to do if they reverted to an uncomfortable sense of distance between them.

Caleb took a deep breath and reminded himself that he had been texting back and forth with Mollymauk all day. They had been flirting and hinting mildly at their plans for the evening. Caleb had agreed to make them dinner and the Spätzle was currently sitting on the stove on the lowest heat keeping warm. Molly has explicitly said how much he was looking forward to the evening. Caleb wasn’t going to let his anxieties ruin something he was looking forward to. No backing out, or making up excuses last minute. He wanted to do this.

He smiled as he recalled how excited Molly had been at the prospect of a well-cooked home meal and while Caleb may have poorly stumbled his way through life, he had at least learned how to cook some basic meals in order to take care of himself. Sometimes he had trouble eating, but he could make the food just fine. Especially when it came to the traditional German recipes he’d grown up on.

Caleb found himself aimlessly wearing a path into the living room carpet as he paced. Abruptly, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He fumbled for it quickly and ignored the sassy meow he received for all his pains from Frumpkin, settled on the couch a few feet away.

“I know I’m a mess, you don’t have to remind me.” He looked down at the phone and felt himself smiling before he had even made it to the end of the text message.

 **From: LoudTattooMan:** You would not believe how mny fucking donut crumbs there are everywhere!!!? I stg she orders one box of donuts and now im sweeping crumbs up everywhere.  
**From: LoudTattooMan:** Anyhow should be done within 15 and icn come over then???? C you soon!

He could only imagine Jester snacking on doughnuts as she wandered around the shop. Somehow, he very clearly understood that Mollymauk was teasing and not actually mad at Jester. He didn’t think that Mollymauk had it in himself to be mean to her. He quite agreed that she was rather adorable.

Caleb gave the apartment one last fleeting once over and honestly it was as good as it was going to get. He padded softly over into the kitchen area and stirred the pasta to make sure the bottom wasn’t burning. All this nervous energy was collected right under his skin and he was torn between feeling like he might explode and that he should hide somewhere. It was maddening.

Tentatively his fingers found the corners of his phone and he played with it before typing out a reply.

 **To: LoudTattooMan:** Can’t wait to see you. I will wait for you out front so that you do not miss the building.

He locked his screen and took a deep breath before wandering toward the front door. He kept up a mantra of memorized text messages from Mollymauk to keep his brain distracted, humming under his breath as he wandered down the stairs from the second floor to the landing. The messages were ones of bright happiness about the tattoo parlor and all of Molly’s friends. Sprinkled in were mentions of how happy he was and how much he liked Caleb. These messages he’d committed to his pristine mind kept him company on the chilly landing. 

It felt like ages before he heard the rumble of a motorcycle coming down the street and he perked up from his spot settled on the front steps of the house against the railing with his phone in hand. He’d been going over notes on a historical text that someone wanted him to look over. It would be his job to translate everything legible in it and make note of interesting passages pertaining to arcana. He was considering taking up the challenge, but he already had three large books he was working on. Honestly, someone else could tackle this one, but it seemed so intriguing and the potential for new things to learn was far too tempting to pass up. However, it would cut into his free time, and that was his Mollymauk time.

The rumbling of the bike brought his attention back to the street just in time to see that iridescent peacock blue and purple motorcycle pull up with its rider comfortably astride it. A familiar jolt of desire and affection ran through his veins as he watched the man in his seafoam green jeans slide off the seat and unclip the helmet from his head. Mollymauk shook his hair out and untangled some of the strands from his horns.

Caleb was already scrambling to his feet and striding down the stairs before Molly had a chance to set his helmet aside and throw his arms out with a big grin. He stumbled and almost tripped into the tiefling’s arms and wrapped his own firmly around Molly’s middle.

He couldn’t help but inhale deeply as he felt two slender arms wind around him and all his previous anxieties about waiting and not being wanted left the moment he was back in Molly’s immediate presence.

“Oh I missed you.” The rumble of Mollymauk’s voice filled his ears and the vibrations hummed underneath where his face was smashed into Molly’a neck, and Caleb didn’t fight his wide smile.

“ _Ja_. I missed you too. Work was unbearably slow.” They inhaled in unison and Caleb felt a hand smooth up and down his back over the sweater he was wearing. Slowly he pulled away and looked up at Molly. The smile he found on his face was almost blinding in its brightness and how far it stretched across his face.

Caleb had to blink and take a step back as he was consumed with the desire to kiss him.

It was with a pang of giddy happiness that he realized that he could do that. He was allowed to do that now. Molly seemed to have realized the same thing because he cupped Caleb’s cheek and leaned in to press their lips together in a slow kiss. 

It was wonderful, there were butterflies and that hot feeling chasing through his veins that Caleb had only previously known as lust now felt comforting. It wasn't just want, it was adoration. It was need. If he didn't have Molly wholly and completely then he would break. 

That was a bit dramatic, he thought, but it that was the feeling swelling inside him. It insisted that he be as close as possible, without being too weird, of course. Gods Caleb wanted this to be what he thought it was. What he never imagine it might be. 

As the kiss ended and a small breath of space enveloped them, Caleb laughed softly and gestured towards the door. 

"We should ah... It's getting cold out. Come on up." His voice was breathy and he barely felt the words leave his lips. 

Molly laughed nervously and kissed the corner of his mouth briefly.

"Right, indoors. Got it. Sorry, I was distracted by how lovely you are." His words, while charming, were a bit rushed and Caleb felt the sincerity in their awkward delivery. It made him pulse with pride and affection as he gently took the tiefling’s hand and pulled him towards the door. 

"Come on, you sap." 

Their footsteps echoed on the staircase as Caleb led them up to his humble second floor apartment. He was nervous showing his personal space to Mollymauk and had done his best to make sure it was to standard. What standard that was, he was not quite sure but...it was a standard at least. It was why he’d spent so much time that afternoon stressing over the state of his affairs. 

Mollymauk was completely unfazed by the space as his eyes scanned the worn carpet and sparse framed pictures on the walls. His eyes seemed to zero in on something and Caleb stiffened naturally as he turned to follow his gaze. Had he left something weird about?

It was Frumpkin that drew both their eyes as he stood on the arm of the chair and mewled loudly and defiantly. 

"Oh my gods, is that him? Is that Frumpkin? Look at his cute little face, my heart is absolutely melting." Caleb blinked owlishly as Molly rushed across the room and kneeled directly in front of the cat. One hesitant lavender hand stroked over the soft fur almost reverently. 

"Ah… _Ja_? That is Frumpkin. I take it you like him?"

"Caleb, he's gorgeous and so nice-- Ow. Oh, I take it back, he's terrible and feisty and I love him."

Caleb laughed from where he was shucking his coat in the doorway as Mollymauk introduced himself to his cat. Frumpkin had made himself at home chewing on and attacking the tiefling’s hand. He never bit hard when play fighting, but Caleb decided to call him off anyway. 

"Frumpkin, _Nein_." With a sharp click of his tongue the cat stopped nipping at Molly's hand and settled down on the arm of the chair. 

"Oh wow, he's trained?" The curious note in Mollymauk's voice was evident but Caleb shrugged as he headed into the kitchen to check on the food on the stove. 

"He is both a cat and my familiar. It was easy to train him and understand him. Plus he is very intelligent." 

A pleased and interested hum was heard from the other room as Caleb tended to the pasta and sauce. 

Dinner was a mundane affair as Caleb dished up enough for both of them to enjoy and brought the plates over to the coffee table in the living room. They ate from the couch casually as Molly kicked off his shoes and took both his and Caleb's to the entryway. He shared stories about the day that he hadn't already relayed over text animatedly and Caleb listened quietly as he ate. He stammered through several 'thank you's' as Mollymauk complimented his cooking. He certainly wasn't used to company, much less the company of someone he was dating who seemed to admire him, even slightly.

Oh gods, they were dating. 

Even the thought of it disrupted his ability to listen and made his chest feel warm and tight with anticipation. 

What really floored him was the expression he caught on Mollymauk's face while he himself ranted on and on about the text he was trying to translate and transcribe for its historical context. He was incredibly passionate about this stupidly old book and Molly was staring at him, frankly, like the sun was shining out of his ass. In complete and utter awe and well, clearly that was misplaced? After all he’d been throwing his hands about quite haphazardly and gotten off the couch twice to try and find similar books upon his shelves to demonstrate. It was all rather embarrassing how completely wrapped up in talking about the subject he’d become.

"I-Is there something on my face?"

"Just gorgeousness..." was the dreamy reply and heat flooded his face as he stammered for a reply. Mollymauk belatedly realized his own words and sat up straight from where he'd leaned his chin into his palm to stare at Caleb. 

"I uh...I mean well, sorry I was just really caught up in you talking about something you love so much. It made your whole face light up." He cleared his throat and tried to shrug it off. Caleb felt his cheeks flush dark and he looked down at his empty plate. 

"I've never had someone say that before..."

"Say what before?" Molly leaned back into the couch cushions and twirled his fork around a finger absently.

"Call me gorgeous." His shyness overtook his words and he found himself mumbling at the end. Instinctually, he ducked his chin towards the collar of his sweater he’d put on after work.

A hand found its way under his chin and gently tapped underneath it with one claw.

“Hey now, no reason to hide. What I say is the truth, you know.” Molly’s red eyes stared at him sincerely from under his dark lashes.

“That’s hard to believe knowing how much bullshit leaves your mouth.” Caleb gave him a look and gently turned his chin away from the fingers under it. He heard Mollymauk scoff and suddenly, plates and dinner forgotten, the lavender tiefling was very much in his space. Molly had been sitting lounged against the arm of the couch but now he leaned towards him, one arm draped over the back of the couch casually.

“Caleb darling. I talk a lot of nonsense, it's true, but not about this, not about something as important as how I feel about you.” His words were edged with seriousness unlike the light teasing sprinkled in before the change of subject.

“Oh…” was all that Caleb could manage as he looked around the space, anywhere but at the eyes pinning him to the suede couch. He wanted him so badly, he was so desperately infatuated with this tiefling and everything he said. He’d never thought that love was something he deserved, but it had waltzed right into his life like it belonged. It had tattooed itself across his heart faster than he’d even realized.

Hell, maybe this wasn’t love, maybe it was just infatuation. He didn’t really know much about it, his youth was fuzzy and his time spent recovering was even less clear. Affection, romance, love; they were all unsure and uncertain to him.

What Caleb did know, was that the hand resting just under his jaw was warm and comforting. The arm slung over the back of the couch did not make him feel on edge or trapped in any way and… The man staring at him made him feel safe and warm.

Not to mention that his entire body was screaming at him to be as close as possible to this man, to listen to him and hang off his every word.

What a foolish and terrifying urge it was.

“Caleb, are you still with me?” Mollymauk gently rubbed his thumb over the edge of the scruff on his jawline, concern evident in his voice and the scrunch of his brows.

“ _Ja, ja_. Sorry, I was just thinking.”

“About what?” Caleb floundered at the question.

“I just…I was thinking about how silly it is that I’ve been alone for so long and how this is probably going to sound crazy, because I’ve never felt safe a day in my goddamn life but -” He paused and finally his blue eyes met those deep red ones and Caleb swallowed the thick lump in his throat.

“I feel safe with you.”

That seemed to catch Molly off guard, and his dumbstruck expression was oddly satisfying.

“Well, that’s quite a compliment. I’m so glad to hear that I, uh… wow, I don’t know what to say.” Mollymauk leaned back slightly and his cheeks were dusted with a darker purple.

“Have I rendered you speechless?” Caleb watched as his words made the tiefling really blush.

“No, I mean kind of…I have words. I just don’t know that they’re any good.” He was stammering a bit and Caleb cooed softly, if not a bit mockingly, at him.

“Cute.”

That seemed to do the trick as Molly rolled his eyes and ducked his head down to gently hide it in the knit fabric covering Caleb’s shoulder. A laugh, light and filled with joy, was pressed into his sweater and he reached up and gently slid his fingers into the hair down the back of Mollymauk’s neck. It was wonderfully soft and his skin was warm there.

“You know, this started as me teasing you, what happened?” Two red eyes squinted up at him and Caleb smirked.

“I guess you’re good at dishing it out but not taking it.”

Too late, Caleb realized the opportunity he’d given Mollymauk.

“Oh, I can take it. Believe me, Mr. Caleb, I can definitely take it.” His smirk was wide and sensual and the context of his statement impossibly clear. It lit a fire under Caleb’s skin that was very different from the electric sparks felt when he used any kind of magic. This was pure desire.

“Do you want to?” The words were gone from his mouth before he could stop them and he was sure that his shocked expression looked even worse than Molly’s did.

“I…I mean yes? I’m always okay with- Uh, what exactly are you asking here, Caleb?” Mollymauk sat up straight and his hand found Caleb’s and gently held it.

“I’m… not sure.” Caleb cleared his throat and ignored the burning in his face that refused to go away. “I was remembering what we talked about earlier this morning and if you are still interested?” He let the question linger in the air between them, staying perfectly vague in case he was reading everything wrong. He doubted that was, but it was nice to have a safety net just in case.

The tieflings tail perked up animatedly behind him and his expression shifted from shocked confusion to interest in a matter of seconds.

“Oh, I’m definitely interested. In fact I am completely enraptured by you and very eager. Especially because someone had to rush off to work this morning.” With each word Molly shifted closer on the couch and Caleb wasn’t prepared for the lapful of tiefling he suddenly held. Molly settled comfortably over his thighs, straddling him and trapping him between his arms on the couch.

The air between them was warm and inviting and safe, their feelings, while new and still unsure, felt cherished. Caleb worried that he would crush this good feeling with his cold, harsh hands, but the lips that pressed into his tentatively erased his worried thoughts.

How could something that felt so right and nice lead to something terrible? It was time that he stopped worrying about what might happen and instead enjoy the bright and wonderful person in his arms at this very moment.

It was in sync that their lips found each other. Molly threaded his fingers through Caleb’s soft ginger hair and pulled him close. His lips were warm and wonderful and his touch was firm but caring and Caleb melted as his bones heated up. His own hands found their way up over Molly’s skin, tracing over his thighs and up to his hips. With an emboldened breath of air into the tiefling’s mouth, he slid his hands underneath that soft cotton shirt to explore his chest. 

Time trickled by as Caleb explored the other man’s chest and eventually they slipped from the couch at Mollymauk’s urging. It was nerve-wracking and he was a jittery mess, but laying down in bed next to this brilliant light of a man was easier than he’d thought it would be. Finding pleasure between themselves and gasping into each others mouths with each gentle caress and touch was wonderful in ways Caleb hadn’t know he’d ever be allowed to experience. 

Mollymauk’s shirt came off first and Caleb found himself exploring those wonderful layers of tattoos that twisted and ran across the entirety of the man’s back. They were gorgeous, and before he could stop himself he was tracing them with his lips reverently. Molly was eagerly stretched out on the bed beneath him and Caleb traced his way from his hip bone up past his nipples and along his collarbone to his neck where the peacock feathers wrapped around to his cheek. It was easy to layer kisses on his face and at Molly’s urging he lavished more kisses on his lips. 

“I’m glad you like them…” Molly whispered against his mouth softly. Caleb pulled away with a smile as he shucked his bulky sweater and tossed it to the side. 

“Like what? Your tattoos? Of course I like them, they’re gorgeous.” He hesitated with his shirt and left it on for the moment as he smoothed his hand gently over one of Molly’s exposed thighs. The tiefling hadn’t hesitated at all in stripping down to his briefs. 

“Well, to some people they’re off-putting, you know tattoos aren’t everyone's cup of tea.” A purple eyebrow arched upwards with interest and Caleb felt himself blush. 

“Oh, well...I find them rather, uh...sexy.” His smile was small but he felt more confident in it when Molly smiled back at him. 

“I’m so glad to hear that.” Molly’s laughter that followed was contagious, and it spilled between them freely as Caleb stripped out of his shirt and pants and lavished a great deal of attention on all of Mollymauk. Every inch of pale purple skin was covered with kisses and Caleb asked quietly into the shell of Molly’s ear if he could leave marks on him. He was delighted by the breathy “Yes.” and made his own temporary additions to the artwork along Molly’s ribs, side and neck. 

He loved the thought of being a part of this, of being a part of Molly’s body and his life. It was a big step for him, a big change in the direction of his thinking. Like the ink laden on his arm he found that the lavender tiefling currently moaning under his hands and mouth was making a permanent place in his life. 

For the first time in this new beginning he’d given his life, Caleb truly enjoyed himself, and when the evening stretched into late night and they relaxed under the heavy comforter of his bed he found himself drifting off to sleep sated and happy. It was an unbridled happiness with no strings attached. Lips pressed gently to his forehead in the dark and Caleb heard whispered words of goodnight. 

He’d never so badly in his life wanted to say the words ‘I love you’ to someone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So obviously this is not explicit because i am struggling to write detailed sex scenes right now but I almost feel like this fits better with the feeling of this story? Sorry if that is a disappointment but I have to write this story how it feels right and the soft summer happy vibes it gives me just does not work well with strong porn language friends haha
> 
> But I hope you enjoyed this sweet soft chapter and there will be more to come I promise <3 My schedule is wicked busy but I'm making better time for writing and I think I've recovered mostly from the bad thing that happened lol. Mostly OTL  
> <3

**Author's Note:**

> Hey i hope you liked it! Leave me comments and kudos if you liked it a bunch and I'll probably be convinced to write more of it :) I'm a slut for multichapter fics after all. Shrugs. 
> 
> Also there is a sexy chapter planned for this and the rating will be changed at that point when it is added on.


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